Removing components from between the speakers

I tend to agree with Mikelavigne.

I believe we all chase the ‘ideal’ even when constrained by budget, room bounds, other room uses. I also believe the room to be the most important component of a system and tuning of that room to be the greatest factor in getting at ones sonic ‘ideal’. Equipment placement is part of the room tuning process.

I am fortunate to having a dedicated room for audio and have tuned it to my liking, though this is an ongoing project. Equipment placement was part of that process.

My source equipment and preamp are positioned on a rack placed at my right side about 18” from the wall and forward of, and not in the path of, the 1st reflection point off that wall. My amp is placed on a stand close to and left of the rack. I am using 1M ICs and 5M speaker cables to facilitate this arrangement. I believe this gives me the best acoustic advantage and allows me to select music without leaving my chair. There is nothing within, nor between me and, the soundstage. The presentation is quite holographic. This is important to my sonic ‘ideal’.

I believe the benefits of freeing the space between speakers and that between speakers and the listening position outweigh any costs of longer IC/SC lengths involved, regardless of the IC vs. SC length controversy. This controversy is most likely an equipment, and equipment placement issue.

Most people are stuck with something between their speakers.

Period.

The thing to discuss is not how the ideal room would or should be unless the point is to the futility of the idea. I'd love to have the wherewithal to have a dedicated listening room but I'm with the majority on this: I can't.

So, getting back to the OPs question, if you can isolate, as best you can, the equipment off to one side and not in the soundstage you listen to, then by all means, do it.

As for the rest of us, throw a big, wool, army blanket over your widescreen and rack and make sure your speakers are forward of the stuff between and see if it makes a difference. That's the advice I was given on another thread here and it worked. It was a very minor improvement, but it worked.

I no longer do it because of the hassle.

All the best,
Nonoise

If I had a room like Mikelavigne's, I'd be close to ideal.

Right you are Simao....makes a world of difference

Simao;

"My monitors are pulled forward of the salamander rack. A good 12" forward. So maybe it wouldn't make that much difference...".

I wouldn't necessarily conclude that on my own without testing that assumption, but I think there's a simple enough way to answer the question for your particular setup without much fuss.

Simply pull your monitors forward (temporarily, for the sake of a short audition) out far enough into the room so that the front of the Salamander is a good 3-4' (or even more, if you can arrange it) behind the baffles. Don't bother listening for things like bass response or tone or whatever, just focus on depth and imaging. This should give you a clear indication of how much (if any) in that department you stand to gain by removing the equipment and rack from the middle. IOW, this test will give you a fairly good idea about how inherently capable of displaying depth your gear currently is, in your room. If there is no appreciable change, then it would likely not be worth the trouble to go through the motions to remove the rack. If you find a substantial improvement, then you can investigate further. Hope this helps.