@handymann - RE:
I have tried many setups and have found I get the best sound with nothing in the "listening triangle."
So an interpretation of that could be to have the equipment in between the speakers, but far enough back so they are not in the listening triangle.
That is my current setup - I am fortunate enough to have the speakers 8 ft from the wall behind them and the component rack is located just in front of that wall - so about 5 ft behind the speakers. Of course the 20ft of space behind the listening position and the broadloom on the floor also helps eliminate reflections, which can degrade the overall image.
This is also the setup a couple of Audio stores that I frequent tend to use in their better sound rooms.
In my previous house I was not so fortunate and the image, although very good, never had the depth to the imageĀ I now enjoy and it always seemed to be "focused" around the components.
After my initial setup in the new house the image was so good I saw no need to try other setups.
So I guess I can confirm one aspect of your statement above :-)
Regards - Steve