Equipment: To Hide or not to Hide

Well how large a room is would be a big deal for me, I have my rack in my room but most of my music is kept on wall outside room so it doesnt close in on me too quick. I am now in my own room SO doesnt care about how it looks as I am in a pit in basement but I like to see the rack and gear.
To me hiding equipment is more of an HT thing where WAF even dictates pretty little or built in speakers.

Staying on the same topic, How are you guys managing the dust collection on the equipment? I am covering my my equipment with a large bed sheet. Do you just use swiffer or something else, please advise.

kas

I'd hide everything if I could. Unfortunately remote controls and heat from tubes makes that difficult. I'd even hide my speakers if I could. I hate to admit to the unwashed that I so enjoy such an arcane hobby. :-) Besides I find all of that stuff visually distracting when I really just want to hear music. For some unexplicable reason though, I do like to display my music along with books in my shelving systems. Go figure.......

I use a soft cloth, similar to that which I use for cleaning glass lenses (cameras or eye), to dust my stuff.

I find equipment between the loudspeakers distracting, almost as much as a blank TV screen. When my gear was between the speakers and included a big McIntosh amp, I found myself putting the record album cover in front of the amp so I wouldn't have to look at the meters, especially when the room was dimly lit.

Aesthetically, I find it much less overwhelming with the speakers placed separately. There's also a little more flexibility with fine-tuning the speaker placement.

All in all, I listening to my system more when I don't have to look at the pile of gear.

As you can see from my systems, I like the hybrid approach. When in use all my equipment is visible, when not in use its closed up in a cabinet. I use this approach because my setups are in general living spaces. I often have guests with kids, etc. and I like the security of having the equipment off limits. If i had a dedicated listening room in basement or similar space, I would just leave the equipment open all the time.