Equipment Rack Placement

highend audio shows are not exemplars for equipment placement. having helped in the setup and teardown of rooms at ces and stereophile shows, i can tell you that you must frequently use your space for display as much or more so than for optimum sound quality. when i took the equipment rack from betweem my speakers a few months ago and treated the back wall where it had stood with asc wall panels, i experienced an improvement in soundstage depth and width nearly as great as upgrading the speakers themselves. (i now have only my amp behind and between the speakers--i use 6 ft. cables and 21 ft. ic between amp and pre). it costs some for this setup but its well worth it.

sam: actually, it's fairly easy to find 6,7&8 meter pairs of ic's on audiogon. just post a "wanted" ad, specifying the wire you desire and, i can almost guarantee you, you'll get at least one response very quickly. BTW, the 2 best audio shop soundrooms i've visited in the past 30 days have setups much like mine (audio unlimited, in denver; goodwin's highend, in waltham, ma), as do a number of my friends. it is no more expesive to go in this direction than using multiple sets of 1 1/2 or 2 meter pairs of ic's, as many do. and it truly does render a HUGE improvement in soundstage/imaging.