[BWentler]

There are books, WEB sites, articles, and everything else on the topic of proper speaker placement within a room, WELL WHAT ABOUT COMPONEMT/RACK LOCATION!!!!

I would like to open Pandora’s box and ask the following questions:

     1) Where’s the “best” location for your components/rack in a listening room?

       And

     2) Were do you have yours?

Thanks to all who reply to these questions!

[DVV]

There are books, WEB sites, articles, and everything else on the topic of proper speaker placement within a room, WELL WHAT ABOUT COMPONEMT/RACK LOCATION!!!!

I would like to open Pandora’s box and ask the following questions:

     1) Where’s the “best” location for your components/rack in a listening room?

       And

     2) Were do you have yours?

Thanks to all who reply to these questions!

I believe the best spot is between your speakers, so that the speaker cables could be as short as possible. It is assumed you are already using interconnect cables which are as short as possible, so it seems logical to apply the same criteria to the much more problematic (due to the nature of the signal, now amplified in both voltage and current) loudspeaker signals.

Also, such a position allows for least direct sound waves, which means least direct vibration (however, this does not rid us of all vibration, because there are still rebounding sound waves).

Cheers,
DVV

[satfrat]

For me, I`m between a rock and a hard place. With a 11' wide room, my 40" Sony takes center stage with my mains a foot in front of the tv for breathing room as they have a woofer firing at each other. There`s 2 tweeters, one firing forward and the other at a 45° angle to the inside. My sub is to the right of my righ main in the corner and my BPT conditioner is on the Mapleshade support system in the other corner. Now I ask, where te hell is there room for an audio rack? Well mine is tight to the left speaker on an angle so`s not to totally block the speaker. Processor, and both amps will be within inches of the speaker, thank God for that inside firing woofer! As it is, my analog & digital interconnects are 4 meters from my satellite receiver under the tv to the audio rack as are the video cables. For the vibation, my Sanus rack is spiked and has isolated shelves. And I use cones under all my components. I think in a real life situation (livingroom) that most of us are in, everything`s a compromise. Best place for a rack??, how about a soundproof shelf hanging from the ceiling directly above the speakers with maybe 3' of speaker cable! Regards, Robin

[Malcolm Fear]

If your rack is very short in height, then between the speakers is good. It allows for the shortest speaker leads.
I find that image depth goes as far back as the rear wall. Shove a TV or a high rack between your speakers, then you lose image depth. I now have a tall rack, so keep it off to one side in a corner, preserving the image.

[meilankev]

Well, you can have short speaker cable runs without having an equipment rack between the speakers.

All of my equipment is in one of the rear corners of the room, except for my two monoblocks, which sit on the floor (actually raised a little) next to the speaker they drive.  Long "Balanced Cable" run - short "Speaker Cable" run.  This allows for the shortest possible speaker cable runs.  This could work almost as well for a stereo amp as well; it will be along the front wall - just centered between the two speakers.

Ensuring there was no RPTV, no Entertainment Center, no Equipment rack between my speakers was one of the priorities of designing my HT Room.  To this end, I also chose a front projector (as opposed to a RPTV).

Of course, this only works fully for folks who do without a Center Speaker (as I do).  But my theory is that Center Speakers are much more neccesary in systems that have a "presence" between the front speakers (by "presence", I mean RPTV, Ent.Center, Equip.Rack, etc).  Since these items diminish imaging/soundstaging when listening to 2-channel music, it follows they would negatively affect imaging when watching movies - hence the need for a Center Speaker to keep the dialog locked in place.  

However, if there is no "presence" between the front speakers, a Center Speaker is not nearly as important.  Precise stereo imaging for music equates to more proper imaging for movies.

Kevin

[Tonto Yoder]

In my 2 channel set-up, I have most gear at the side of the room but the amp in between speakers.  The IC from pre to amp is 3M, but speaker cables are just 4 feet.  In addition to any benefits in imaging this set-up may entail, I also like NOT looking at the lights of the gear (even though my gear is minimally lit).

One unexpected benefit of the Lovan Sovereign rack I bought is that its modular aspect enabled me to choose between a tall, skinny rack (i.e. a "normal" one) and a double-wide but short rack. I picked short and wide to minimize sound bouncing off the rack.

[Bwanagreg]

I know this is not an option for everyone, but the best place is in another room entirely. I've got my electronics in an adjacent room, on the other side of the wall from the speakers. I have an outlet-sized opening in the wall with the speaker cables running through. Vibrations are not an issue - the floor is cement, and I used 5/8" fiberglass-reinforced drywall and acoustical wool stuffing for the wall construction.

I've used closets before to the same effect. I strongly believe that all of the tweaky solutions to vibration control don't come close to this solution.

[Carlman]

I agree about the separate room... best case scenario if possible.  However, it's not possible for me... I just bought a new house and the room my system is going into is the 'main living area'...

I'm putting my rack in the middle, at the wall, and keeping it as low as possible.  I'm waiting for Plasma/LCD screens to come down in price a bit... then, I'll probably do an in-wall for a center chanel and ceiling mount for the rears.  I don't want to clutter up my room for HT stuff.  2-channel is my primary obsession.  

HT won't happen for at least a year, though.  So, there will only be a small rack in the middle, 2 spearkers, and some furniture.... and some room treatments to come in Fall.

[nathanm]

Much hand-wringing was done when it came time to place my rack in my new room.  The room is damned small, so it seemed no matter what it was in the way.  The problem is that I wanted it far enough from the wall so I could actually squat behind it and get at the connections.  Well, so much for that idea.  The room doesn't allow for such luxuries.  So I ended up placing it in the back right corner at a 45 degree angle.  This lets me access the plugs from the side at least.  

I used to have the rack in the middle between the speakers but I decided I preferred a totally uncluttered front.  Thus, my speaker cables are about 15-20' feet long.  Sounds like there is a concensus that this is a Bad Thing(tm) but I am hesitant to believe I would notice a change if they were cut in two.  Perhaps with monoblocks next to the speakers and a long IC running to them would be better?  Hmmm...  

I do really like the rack at the rear of the room, though.  I can reach over and access the tape deck and CD fairly easily.  If I had more room I'd probably put the rack behind me, which is a shame because it is so damn gorgeous.     I just like the front of the room to be dead empty. The less junk up there the better I feel.  I think if the rack was on casters instead of spikes that just might make all sorts of sense.  But it might be tough to roll on the shag.  Just not enough room in there overall--Man, if I owned this building my back wall would be smashed down faster than you can say "increased bass frequency breathing space".

Bwanagreg did exactly what I was trying to describe in Dejan's vibration thread thingy.  Sounds like a cool plan.

[KeithR]

take away anything in between your speakers, and you are in for a treat.

i haven't seen a high end room period with equipment between the speaks...

i myself have my Wadia on the floor, and a front projection screen which will have to do for now.  have thought about buying a Lovan classic "base" to put that and my dvd player on though...

I believe the best spot is between your speakers, so that the speaker cables could be as short as possible. It is assumed you are already using interconnect cables which are as short as possible, so it seems logical to apply the same criteria to the much more problematic (due to the nature of the signal, now amplified in both voltage and current) loudspeaker signals.

Also, such a position allows for least direct sound waves, which means least direct vibration (however, this does not rid us of all vibration, because there are still rebounding sound waves).

Cheers,
DVV

[Kishore]

take away anything in between your speakers, and you are in for a treat. <snip>

I agree. If it is not possible, then try to place your rack way behind. The only issue is if you are using RPTV -try to use panels on sides of RPTV to improve sonics..

Cheers,
Kishore

[MaxCast]

I'm all for nothing in between the speakers.  But for those that must have the rack/video stuff in the middle, I strongly suggest trying quilts, foam, large stuffed animals, or the like.  I place a 2'x4' (4'x4' when I'm feeling really audiophile-ish ) piece of acoustic foam in front of the TV's for listening and it helps a great deal.

[Malcolm Fear]

Hi Maxcast
I used to try foam over the TV to improve the sound. I don't think it worked very well. I now have a soft single seat lounge chair between the speakers. I move it when I feel hi fi-ish. I really think that nothing should be between the speakers for best image.

[Sedona Sky Sound]

I am afraid I have to respectfully disagree with KeithR. I firmly believe that any high-end system should have the equipment directly between the speakers. The trick is strictly how you place the equipment and what type of rack you are using.

Before I get flamed, let me start by saying that I absolutely agree that a TV, entertainment center, solid walled cabinet, etc will destroy the sound. Moving the speakers forward of the object or covering the object with a blanket will help, but you will likely never get to the full potential of your speakers.  

However, an open-walled rack design with plenty of space between the components and curved edges will actually help the sound in many cases. The rack will act as a partial diffuser and somewhat help with speaker-to-speaker interaction.

In my dedicated state-of-the-sound demo room, I have tried MANY different configurations. In tests where I moved the rack to side walls, back walls, etc. there was always a degradation in sound. IMHO, with most open sided racks, the sonic loss associate with longer speaker cables and/or interconnects will be an order of magnitude greater than any potential gain associated with nothing in-between the speakers.

Having all the electronics on the floor (spaced to allow shortest possible cable/interconnect lengths) with a true quadratic diffuser on the front wall and spaced columns between the speakers could potential produce the best possible sound, but would be totally impractical for most folks. Might be an interesting experiment to try however.          

Julian
www.sedonaskysound.com

[MaxCast]

If I had a dedicated listening room with no video, I'd still place the equipment in between the speakers.
#1  I like to look at the equipment
#2  I don't like "towers" of components.  I'd space things out at different levels.
#3  I think there is something visually/pyschologically with the source in the middle vs. the side.

[8thnerve]

For image, I have always found that the center stage is much more relaxed, extended, and tall (top to bottom) with NOTHING between the speakers, even with open shelf racks, even with open shelf racks shorter than 20"!!!

The other consideration is that sound pressure builds up in certain areas of the room based on its geometry.  In these areas the higher sound levels will vibrate the components.  The highest area of pressure is the corners, second is midway between parallel wall surfaces.  I recommend putting your rack 1/3 of the distance from your rear wall along the right or left wall.

And if you are really concerned about losing signal through a few extra feet of speakers cable, look into Meridian gear, they don't use any.

Let us know what sounds best in your room.

[nathanm]

Place the rack between the speakers on a hydraulically-powered column that lowers into the floor.  With the flick of a switch the rack will lower down leaving only the short cables threaded through a hole or channel.  When you want to change the CD raise it back up.  When friends are over accompany the slow raising of the rack with some dramatic classical score, fog machine and upwardly firing colored spot lights.

[Carlman]

Place the rack between the speakers on a hydraulically-powered column that lowers into the floor.  With the flick of a switch the rack will lower down leaving only the short cables threaded through a hole or channel.  When you want to change the CD raise it back up.  When friends are over accompany the slow raising of the rack with some dramatic classical score, fog machine and upwardly firing colored spot lights.

Hmmm... I can actually do this since I have a large area under my house.  Then, I can listen to the isolation effects in a sort of A/B way.

Not only that, but, this would work well with my wall that will conceal a flat screen panel that has a painting as a door that slides out of the way with a remote.  

Then, later, I'll add a new floor that flips over to a casino when I pull a giant lever.