Should i move rack to sidewall?

I've pondered the same question after reading GBS. I've mostly had my rack (or in my other house a large entertainment center) between the speakers and have wondered to what degree it is impacting the sound quality of my system. Though I have never rearranged the same components in the same room so that there was nothing between the speakers, I have had systems in the past where the rack was on the side wall close to my listening chair. I've come to the conclusion that like most things there are trade offs-having the rack between the speakers keeps cable runs short (and neat) and but may hurt imaging and center fill compared to having the rack located elsewhere. I've decided to put the rack between the speakers but move the speakers forward as much as possible so that the baffles are further from the front wall than the front edge of the rack. Unfortunately, in my listening room I cannot move the speakers very far from the front wall so they clear the front of the rack by only six inches or so but I'm thinking this is better than having the rack in line with or in front of the baffle edge. Not sure if this helps but you may want to try moving the speakers well forward of the rack if you can rather than move the rack to the sidewall and incur the cost of recabling your system or diminishing the flow of power to your components with extension cords etc.

I bought the DVD version of GBS and came to realize, that it is great guide but not gospel. Some of his suggestions are just not feasible for those uf us that don't have dedicated systems and rooms. I agree with his suggestion, however I must omit that section when analyzing my system as I have a combo HT/2 Channel system and don't see it ever changing unless I will Powerball.

Seems to me logically if it is behind the speakers it is the area with the least amount of sound waves hitting the gear . A side wall is where the speakers are radiating the sound.I think gear on the floor (amp stands) between the speakers would be the least affected. I have no technical degree in this but it has always seemed the most logical place to put my gear.

Thanks guys. I decided it would be too much to move it . My rack is only 2 shelf and i also have my computer hooked up there{ hardwired }.

Streetdaddy, your room is already about as vibration rich as they come and your vibration-sensitive components are already probably saturated with air-borne regardless of their location. In other words, does it really matter if it's raining cats or raining cats and dogs? In either case, within a few moments you're going to be soaking wet. The same goes for your components.

Besides, even if you were able to minimize the destruction caused by air-borne vibrations, you would still have to contend with the constant bombardment of internally-generated vibrations induced by power supplies, motors, etc.

Hence, the only cure is to install a platform that properly redirects the captured vibrations away from the chassis' before they can start dissipating inside. Up 'til now, they've been primarily trapped within. Remember that vibrations are captured in a moment in time but they can only dissipate over an extended period of time. Much like the pluck of a guitar string.

And since it's raining cats and dogs in your listening room, it really should not matter where the bulk of vibrations are coming from whether it's low frequency bass notes or female vocalists, or a higher frequency picolo as they all generate vibrations and all are captured at the component over and above the internal power supplies and internal motors.

So without a proper cure, it should not matter where in the room (or even outside the room) the rack is placed and unless you have a rack as big as a large tree trunk, there should be little to no interference with focus, imaging, soundstaging, etc.

That said, I'd suggest placement between the speakers for shortest cable runs and creating a visual symetry / balance in the room and for the most convenient remote control.

Hope this helps,