Yes, I named names.
The attached photo is of a punch panel in line in the installed 56 channel snake to FOH of a local venue that opened in Nov 2011. There are two such panels in line, one at the stage and one at FOH. I understand why, and I wouldn't care much if they had been done correctly. As you can see by the picture they weren't. Apparently, even though this was a $1M+ audio systems installation, they couldn't be bothered to give their installers the correct tool for the job (It's an ID punch, BTW.) Since they didn't have the correct tool, they rammed whatever they could into the terminals, expanding a few of them beyond repair. Then they hid the punch panels in the wall, pretended everything worked, and went on to their next install. When called back to fix the numerous unknown problems with the splitter snake system, they still didn't even try to fix it. I've spent about 20 man/hours over the last few days testing every line, and some problems were as simple as accidental wire swaps in Phoenix connectors (which were instantly visible and easily fixed). I've bypassed the panel for a couple of lines so far (soldered), and it'll be an upcoming project for the venue crew to bypass during a slow week.
I guess this is all I can expect from a "global powerhouse" AV installer. The punchblock problem is less than 10% of the poor installation issues with the A/V in this venue, but I guess it just wasn't a big enough job for them to care.
Sorry, just had to vent. If they are installing in your venue, hover over them as much as you can.
