The DV-981 is here...and...

Because my audio rack and HDTV are 12 cable feet apart I'm left with an equipment/cabling dilemma. Do I put the Oppo on top of the audio rack and run short audio cables to the 990's 7.1 inputs? And then do I run a 12' HDMI cable to one of the Sony's HDMI inputs? Or should I use a HDMI-DVI adaptor to feed the video thru the 990 and then back to the HDTV to take advantage of the video switching?
I don't really want the Oppo on the audio rack. Why is the audio rack 12 feet from the TV? Speaker considerations. My old but beloved AR9's have side firing woofers and need to be two feet away from everything. And the walnut audio rack doesn't look all that cool next to the glass and metal TV rack, anyway. The Oppo 981 and HD cable box and other equipment fit better on the TV rack.
But if the Oppo goes on the TV stand there's a 12 foot run of audio cables to the 990. My past experience with 12 foot runs of low level audio aren't reassuring. And should I still do the DVI-HDMI thing or send the HDMI right to the TV? The TV speakers are never gong to be used. My past experience with 12 foot runs of low level audio aren't reassuring.
No no...the 990 and four Carver amps are not going to fit on the TV rack.

Life was so simple before the 990 arrived.

If you are planning to use the 981HD's multichannel analog output, I'd much rather have a long HDMI run (12' is still well under the length limit for HDMI) than a long analog audio run. Personally, I'd put the 981HD in the equipment rack and just run video to the TV. If you think you'll have a second HDMI or DVI video source, I'd go ahead and set up the 990's DVI switching and make things simpler for later. Otherwise, it's just as easy to run straight to the display.

Thanks, Gonk. The long HDMI run makes the most sense to me, too.