Equipment Rack Between Speakers...Good or Bad

Now I think that would really have an effect on the sound, with that large piano soundboard. 

He had expensive speakers, too. 

One question?
How does it sound?  Good?

If you had a TT that can pick up vibrations I might show concern.

To diffuse or not to diffuse, that's the question. I have mine between the speakers, however kept below ear height when sitting in the listening position. Build my own table on which the equipment is placed, won't vibrate much either. Table (combination of granite and damping material) plus equipment, weighs just under a 1000kg, so not suitable for all types of flooring.... table parts are placed/build up using a hydraulic pallet lifter, and can be placed by one man within 30 minutes. Besides that...it looks good too... 

I experimented with this over 25 years ago. Having the luxury of a dedicating music room and an adjoining equipment closet, this was what I’d learned.

With monopole speakers, the ACOUSTIC effects of placing an equipment rack against the front wall (between main speakers) are minimal to moderate. It has much to do with the size/height of the rack in relations to the speaker distance from this wall. Since the tonal response and image property of the speakers dictates its placement, the net effect varies. Following the general rules of third, or fifth which some had advocated, the speakers often sits a good distance forward. Front rack effect will be minimal but still persists. Unfortunately due to domestic compromises, most setups doesn’t allow.

When accessing the front rack scenario, one should take into consideration of visual influence. Having visual image of a rack smack center often trick one to reject the notion of depth perception 12 O’clock. I resorted to turning off all lights and blocking all instrumental illuminations. I’d tried closing my eyes but often times, I fell asleep.

In search of perfection, I’d tried to further minimize front rack influence with flanking room tune panels. This is one step short of throwing a heavy blanket over the rack. But despite all efforts, I honestly believed that I heard a difference. Ignoring tonal balance of the speakers, I founded that the further out I pull the speakers from the front wall, the less effect the front rack will be. Near field listening anyone?

I also had the opportunity to take custody of a pair of beautiful Dipole ribbon panels and this was what I’d learn. Due to the front and back radiation properties of dipole speakers, the front rack had much greater influence sonically. Lowering the rack size/height made an immediate difference and mostly improvement to image, soundstage, depth, and dimension. Short of the power-amps, the best sound I perceived was to move most, if not all, equipments out of the main room. All necessary equipments up front were kept as low as possible, under 24” in most cases. Wall treatments not withstanding, any objects placed asymmetrical along the wall will affect perceived stage to some extent.

For those who are lucky enough to have a dedicated music room with separate/isolated equipment room, my humble advise is to remove all front-end equipment from the listening area. Removing delicate source equipment such as turntable, transport, etc., will pay healthy dividends. Solutions to connect the front end with main room is entirely a different topic for discussion.

Unfortunately I no longer have such luxury.
Thanks for listening
Mosler666