Equipment: To Hide or not to Hide

Hiding gear is naturally more work and expense and makes changes much more difficult than when everything is left out on the floor or an open rack.

On one hand it is probably better to put things away and expose them to less vibration/dust/kids - keeping everything neat and tidy. On the other hand, poor ventilation may shorten equipment life and unless you automate gear and use remote repeaters then you will probably end up leaving the cabinets open during play anyway - which looks uglier than leaving everything on display in the first place.

Does it affect the sound - probably not enough to matter either way unless you are with vinyl or tubes - both tubes and vinyl can pick up acoustic feedback and will benefit from acoustic isolation.

I tried hiding my speakers in the basement, but I had to turn them up really loud to even hear them upstairs. So they're out in the open now. Everything else is behind doors in a cabinet. I like to look at it but find it a bit distracting when I'm listening to music, and overall a bit cluttered looking (as in my system pics which are way outdated). My wife, on the other hand, definitely does not like to look at it and I do consider that since we do share the house together. I don't find any of it particularly appealing to look at...except for my SET amps, which I do enjoy looking at. The other stuff just looks like so many metal boxes. I get as much pleasure staring at a microwave oven.

Well how large a room is would be a big deal for me, I have my rack in my room but most of my music is kept on wall outside room so it doesnt close in on me too quick. I am now in my own room SO doesnt care about how it looks as I am in a pit in basement but I like to see the rack and gear.
To me hiding equipment is more of an HT thing where WAF even dictates pretty little or built in speakers.

Staying on the same topic, How are you guys managing the dust collection on the equipment? I am covering my my equipment with a large bed sheet. Do you just use swiffer or something else, please advise.

kas

I'd hide everything if I could. Unfortunately remote controls and heat from tubes makes that difficult. I'd even hide my speakers if I could. I hate to admit to the unwashed that I so enjoy such an arcane hobby. :-) Besides I find all of that stuff visually distracting when I really just want to hear music. For some unexplicable reason though, I do like to display my music along with books in my shelving systems. Go figure.......

I use a soft cloth, similar to that which I use for cleaning glass lenses (cameras or eye), to dust my stuff.