Speaker positioning: why do audiophiles neglect this so much?

This is a pretty heated "discussion." Surely part of the reason is defensiveness regarding purchases; one might wonder whether the music or the music system is the priority. I’m not judging here, but "audiophiles" are into audio equipment the way sports car enthusiasts are into sports cars. How many sports car drivers have actually taken competition driving lessons, or for that matter ever push the capabilitits of the cars they own? Do you know how to drift? How to effectively heel-and-toe? But if you don’t, and yet you own a hot car, and know its 0-60 time, horsepower and torque, does that make you some kind of clown? No. Or at least, not necessarily. You’re in love with the technology, even if you can’t take full advantage of it yourself.

Jim Smith isn’t wrong about the importance of setup; I’ve got his book, and benefited from many of his tips. However, that book originated in a pamphlet with 30 tips that he distributed for free. The current edition of the book contains more than 200 tips, and he charges for it. Are all of those additional insights really helpful? You decide. And, as others have pointed out in this thread, every system, room and set of ears is different; Jim Smith offers rules of thumb, not dogma.

Still, I agree in principle with the OP’s claim. Most of us are just more interested in equipment than room setup. As rudyb put it, a new amp is sexier than moving your speakers another foot out from the wall. But moving the speakers will probably make a bigger difference in the SQ. So it’s not that audiophiles don’t know or care about the details of setup. Rather, we have the rooms we have; big changes there would require an architect, in consultation with an acoustician, and a contractor, not to mention the wife’s being on board. And even then, you might "get better sound," but you wouldn’t get a "better" system!

Very well stated @wolf_garcia !

I always adjust/measure my 2 channel speakers by toe in and measuring distance to the "old" sweet spot, plus distances between speakers, the back wall, side walls, from audio rack etc, and once adjusted they stay put. My Monitor Audio Platinum PL300ii are a pain to tweak/adjust at 120lbs a piece. 

Even my HT speakers are all the same height off the floor mounted on the wall. 

I just put my stuff in a different room. Almost a dedicated room, except for a grand piano. It's very live with lots of hard surfaces. Other than putting down some kind of large area rug, I'm not going to do much else. There is no place for more upholstered furniture (the best room "treatment") and I refuse to have ridiculous looking difusers/absorbers on the walls. Even now, the room sounds great. I'd rather have an overly lively room than a dead one.

Rough crowd here.  Guess I touched a nerve!

Of course one cannot tell how a system sounds by viewing photo's.  What one CAN see, however, is that many such systems are FAR from optimized within a space.

Some basics:

Don't place the speakers too near any wall (except the few that are DESIGNED to work specifically THAT way - very few are).

Don't place the primary listening position near a wall.

Don't place the bulk of the equipment between the speakers (amplifiers sitting on floor stands excepted).

Avoid corner placement of any equipment.

Avoid over driving a room (giant speakers in a small room).

Don't place speakers and listening position at opposite extremes within a room (thus maximizing the sonic signature and associated reflections of the space itself).

These are just a few basics Jim Smith and other knowledgeable people have espoused.

Yet the focus remains 90% on the equipment, despite the dominant effects of the above issues.  Not addressing these issues hurts no one.  It just limits the sonic potential of the equipment, like putting a 60 mph limiter on a Porsche turbo.