Speaker positioning: why do audiophiles neglect this so much?

Sonic priorities are subjective and definitely play a role! 

Yes, what others have said--most of us have to find compromises in setup to "live" with our systems. A better barometer would be to examine setups in dedicated rooms--there you will find the care and attention you are seeking. What I find interesting is how many reviewers have systems that are not set up optimally. The rags used to publish room and set up information for each reviewer but I don't see that much anymore. Online rags often give you photos of the room and sometimes there are obvious limitations to the point where you might question the validity of conclusions drawn about reviewed products. Dare I say the last pictures of saw of Fremer's room left me scratching my head. He spent a zillion dollars on rewiring his house for audio and yet has these huge Wilson's crammed into a tiny little space (last I saw). Anyway, you get my point. I know for my own system I'd love to move the rack in between the speakers to shorten ICs (and lessen capacitance) but then I would not be able to use my wall shelf to isolate my turntable--tradeoffs! Also, my speakers would love to be further into the room but then where does the couch (with the wife on it) go?

Back to my main point: why obsess about equipment when what is currently in use is operating at, say, 60% of it's potential?

What does it matter what if a new cable, cartridge, preamp or speaker can bring another 5 - 10% improvement in sound, when the existing equipment is sailing at half mast?

It's as much about set up as the gear IMO.

I agree with the comment about reviewers, BTW.  Fremer is a classic case, giant speakers stuffed into a small listening space.  He claims it sounds good.  Really?  Bet it would all sound much better in an optimized space.

I neglect nothing.