Removing components from between the speakers

Simao;

"My monitors are pulled forward of the salamander rack. A good 12" forward. So maybe it wouldn't make that much difference...".

I wouldn't necessarily conclude that on my own without testing that assumption, but I think there's a simple enough way to answer the question for your particular setup without much fuss.

Simply pull your monitors forward (temporarily, for the sake of a short audition) out far enough into the room so that the front of the Salamander is a good 3-4' (or even more, if you can arrange it) behind the baffles. Don't bother listening for things like bass response or tone or whatever, just focus on depth and imaging. This should give you a clear indication of how much (if any) in that department you stand to gain by removing the equipment and rack from the middle. IOW, this test will give you a fairly good idea about how inherently capable of displaying depth your gear currently is, in your room. If there is no appreciable change, then it would likely not be worth the trouble to go through the motions to remove the rack. If you find a substantial improvement, then you can investigate further. Hope this helps.

I had the opportunity to place components outside of my room, or in a closet in the room, or to put them alongside the wall. I chose to place them right in the middle. The primary reason is the atrocious loss/degradation that occurs with longer cables. It cannot be escaped, and it is horrific. No placement of components will fix the damage done to a system by use of unnecessarily long cables.

There are compromises which must be made when building systems, and the room is certainly not the end all, be all solution for setting up rigs. It accounts for perhaps 50% of the experience, but neglecting things like cable length is a major mistake, imo.

It has been proven that keeping the components completely out of the listening room is best. While not practical for most, the remaining key object is to deep the acoustic energy produced by the speakers from impacting the components. So, best to build an acoustic cage some where in the room.

This post is getting beyond silly, as any Zen master can tell you the secret of life is to want what you have and not want what you don't have.
Easy to understand but can take a lifetime to do.

Having a dedicated listening room is what separates the serious audiophile from the dilettantes. Having that room designed by a professional acoustic engineer the is the pinnacle. Many if not most audiophiles will not get to that point. It's like getting into the club, but not getting into the VIP area.

Remember, tomorrow is another day.