Where is your equipment placed?


I swear I can hear a difference in the soundstage if my equipment is placed in between my speakers as opposed to placing it behind me and having nothing in between my speakers. Another strange observation is that it always makes the right side stronger no matter what. I hear the vocals shift to the right. What's the deal??
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I would bet that your left speaker is close to the left wall or some object reflecting sound to your right ear.

Of course you can hear a difference. Equipment placed in between the speakers, like alot of people do, will have a big effect on the sound. The shape, height, material, closeness of components all affect this. This is an area that should be left empty to "tune" to your liking with room treatments, or even art or statuary. You can get good sound by accident with your rack here, but generally, it is not the best place. Unfortunately, it is the most convenient location since it requires the shortest cable lengths. Everybody does it! You might try this and find the sound gets worse. That is because the rack and components were reflecting the center image right to you, giving the illusion of the singer right there. Without a rack here you might need something else, something "controllable" to fulfill this function. I use Michael Green's "Room Tunes" to tune the empty space between the speakers and the sound is holographic, even with moderate components. Takes alot of experimenting with position to get it just right, but, WOW, when done.
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Viridian, that's where I shop for clothes and groceries to save money for stereo equipment! If I had only dug a little deeper...

Hifiharv, thanks for your insight and reinforcing what I observed!