Where should my equipment rack go?

I think ideally the rack shoudl not be on the center, even though you have the speakers pretty far out already. I woudl sping for the IC and place the rack completely out of the way. I bought "cheaper" speaker cable just so I coul dhave the length I needed. I guess it all depends on how much you think your cable is contributing to the system sound...
-Vik

I agree with Vikvilkhu. Place your rack off to the side and away from the speakers.

Dewinkle- If you have a low profile, open architecture rack, then placing the equipment between the speakers might work just fine. I've had problems in the past with racks between the speakers effecting the sound stage presentation. Given that many hi-end cables are quite expensive, especially in long runs, you might want to consider upgrading your rack(s) to allow the central placement and get the benefit of improved sonics at the same time. The Sistrum line of racks and stands has proved very effective in my system. If this option is not viable, then relocation and longer interconnects would seem to be the only other option. Not all interconnects will work well in long runs, so check with the manufacturer/vendor to determine applicability. I've had very good success with the Sonoran Plateau ICs in long runs, but YMMV. Good luck.

Ideally your rack should be in another room or total isolated from the speakers (eg, in a closet behind closed doors). Since, for most of us, this is impossible, here are some alternate solutions (from best to worst)

1. On a side wall beyond the first reflection point of the speakers or the front wall (wall on the opposite end of the room from where the speakers set)
2. On a side wall behind the speakers
3. In a corner behind the speakers
4. Between the speakers

Whatever you do, do not place the equipment rack on the side wall parallel to your speakers-- this is the worst possible place; even worse than between the speakers.

I've had pretty good luck with the corner location, but my speakers sit about five feet out into the room and my rack is "open". The advantage of this location is that the rack doesn't sit between the speakers and the interconnect length is minimized. My power amp sits on the floor between the speakers which also keeps the speaker cables short

Experiment and see what works best for you (within your budget constraints for cable length).

I would advise against corner placement of a rack as that is where you are most likely to run into large quantities of low frequency reinforcement / air-borne vibrations. There was a thread about this the other day and i know that there is quite a bit of info in the archives about it. You might also want to try checking there. Sean
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I have moved my equipment rack from between the speakers and out along the side wall. Getting the more sensative equipment away from the amp helped the sound quite a bit. So did going with a much better IC than I used previously.

I first and formost beleive you should put it were YOU want it. As I ran into the same problem in my application but I broke the rules my rack had to go down a side wall, I had no place for the amp so it went with the rack around the side wall everybody will tell you to use longer interconnects with shorter speaker cables but being hard headed I went with 30ft speaker cables I had to replace 1 time to find something that would work with the system. The problem is when you talk (long) bring your checkbook whether they be interconnects or speaker cables. Also taking into conideration your source equ. turntable expecially you would want that as far as possible from speakers.David

I would never move the rack from between the speakers at the sacrafice of lower quality cables - as long as your speakers are that far out from the front wall your fine. I've done it both ways and it was a very minimal if any difference for me.

My room is 20' by 13'. The speakers are about 6-7 feet out from the wall and are about 7 feet apart. My 5 shelf rack is off to the side of the right speaker about 4-5 ft out from the wall. It is a quality rack, locally made weighing 80 pounds retailing for $800. I have to use 12 ft speaker cable as all my components are in the rack. I love having nothing in the sounstage but I am thinking about moving the rack to the center very close to the wall so that I can get better speaker cable with shorter lengths. I realize the optimum setup is amps in the middle, low to the floor, and short runs of speaker cable. Moving my monoblocks to the center and getting long interconnects is out of the question. I cannot afford a 3 meter Nordost QuattroFil interconnect (mine is .6 meter). Any comments / suggestions?

I place everything on small "amp-stands" on the floor between and behind the speakers and have had great results. Vibrapods take car of the vibrations. Cables are shortest and cheapest this way, too....

My vote is directly between the speakers against the front wall. This will assure the shortest possible distance for your speaker wire and interconnects. Put your money into the quality of cables, not their length. This position will also avoid bass resonance problems that accentuate in corners of rooms.

Any bass minima. I have mine along the side wall and run long interconnects to my tube monoblocs.