Equipment Rack Between Speakers

Agree with Kevin, if there is enough room for the equipment to basically be on the floor. I have my turntable and integrated tube amp on the maple blocks and on the floor with brass cones under the blocks.

Having the gear between the speakers tends to be more photogenic, but our living space (and chief decorator) pretty much dictates that the gear goes on a side wall.

Dealing with the same issue. Large sound anchor rack with multiple sources.  Either side wall....long speaker cables. Or rack to be positioned close to back wall with speakers 2-3 feet in front and to the side of the rack.

Rack is approximately 4.5 feet tall and 5 foot wide. 

I could balance side placement with bookshelf but long speaker cables are pricey. 

Advice?

I have my equipment on a side wall, but that’s because I have a fireplace in between my speakers that juts out from the wall about 20”.  On the fireplace I have an 85” TV.  While completely independent from my two channel audio, I also have home theater speakers on the same wall.  Playing my two channel audio system, I’ve had two friends who had been in the high end audio business, ask me if my center channel speaker was playing, because of the lack of a L/R speaker localization.  My point is, just because you don’t follow all of the audiophile “rules” doesn’t mean you can’t achieve a great 3D sound stage.  

Such luxuries are few and far between. Most of us do with what we're given.