Location of compoments.

So, to better answer the OPs question, I much prefer having the system to the side, and not between the speakers.  In my youth, I had a rather grand system (Accuphase, bi-amped into big Infinity speakers) and it was to the side.  I was able to "see" the soundstage between the speakers, looking into the front wall with wood diffusers.  In my present house that layout cannot be achieved.  Thus, building a dedicated sound room I can achieve what I believe to be best, and that is for having the system to the side of me and the speakers with the amp between them.  The front wall will have high quality diffusers in the middle.  A much nicer view of nicely done wood diffusers as opposed to a rack of electronics, in my opinion.

@lovehifi22 I haven't read the whole thread so maybe someone else suggested this but i too read Smith's book and relocated my equipment to the side in a bass null, but i kept the amp between the speakers on a very low amp stand to avoid long speaker cables--so speaker cables are 4' long and balanced interconnects are 15'

Incidentally i had a phone consult with Jim Smith and mentioned this to him and he said he was more addressing the scenario where all the equipment was between the speakers--he had no problem with the way i had done it

Leaving the amp in between is actually a reasonable compromise. It is better to have nothing… no amp at center. Typically that would be mean running dual mono amps behind or adjacent behind the speakers. So, if you can’t afford monoblocks, then a centered stereo amp is preferred, because it is better to do the long interconnect run between preamp and amp than to have long speaker cables. Systems tend to be more favorable sounding with short speaker cables with a centered amp than with long speaker cables.

But overall… this is a pretty minor sonic difference in most folks systems. I have not done it in my current system. If I upgrade again, I will.

I don't agree with Jims "golden ratio" speaker positioning formula but do believe he is right on the money with this idea- depending on type and size of rack.  

The best sound stage I have heard was at a dealer that had nothing between the speakers but a wide set of thick theater curtains.  

A rack or screen in the center unpredictably and non-linearly mixes and reflects the omni directional sound waves and will not be optimum. 

A single tier open rack is not as bad as a triple tier closed off rack that can also adversely reflect and fortify bass frequencies.  

I am currently using a three wide IKEA closed rack and realize the sound is not the best it can be.