Remove rack or console from between your speakers


Several people have suggested removing components from between the  speakers to add a reflecting surface. If I did this my speaker cables would be as long as 18feet.  Would this degrade the signal much?
audiomaze
mikelavigne and millercarbon:  I just looked at photos of both of your listening rooms and equipment and they blew me away!  Here I was agonizing over which small subs to buy, and your equipment and rooms look like you are preparing for a space launch!  I will never have anything like that and can only imagine what your systems are capable of.  Thanks for the photos that gave me a window on that world.  I salute you sirs!

mikelavigne
1,410 posts
03-06-2020 7:01pm
there is no one right answer. and it is somewhat related to the seriousness of your system and asset allocation.

if you have optimized everything else first to a reasonable degree, then having long interconnects and removing your rack from between your speakers might be the next step.

however;
--it might depend on what is on the wall behind the speakers. it could be that your rack is acting like a diffuser and helping if you have a flat bare wall or a big window. those things will not be improved by moving your rack.
--and how much a long interconnect or long speaker cables might cost. you might improve another part of your system with the same budget as the longer cables and get a better net performance gain.

the moral of the story is that other things need to be at a point where this change will help, or it's not worth it.

I concur with Mike.  Plus, my experiences suggest that n the priority of issues to be concerned, this is probably at the bottom of that list...  
Mr. Miller,

Nice system setup.  Puts my wobbly (like the owner) wooden rack to great shame.

I like the insulators supporting the cabling.  Never thought of that considering I have several hundred.

Victor, Locke or Lapp, by chance?  Can’t see any markings.

daniel 
Yeah I would have to look. The big ones are Cable Elevators which turn out to be standard ceramic insulators with a sticker. The smaller ones are various bought off eBay once I compared and realized they are just as good and a lot cheaper. 

You should see it now. Tweaks galore. But a lot is developmental and I am under orders not to divulge. So no pics. No reviews. Which is killing me. Well not really. The sound is to die for. I just can't describe it. Literally. 

Suffice to say I believe now more than ever what mahgister says about tweaking the "embeddings" (acoustic, vibration, electric) being more effective and important than upgrading components.
For many, having the rack between the speakers makes the most sense. You should however make sure the front of your speakers are at least a few inches forward of the rack itself to reduce high frequency reflection/diffraction.