Audio racks in a room..what goes??

ILUVAUDIO

ILUVAUDIO

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Hey all, when people set up a system, I have see it done a few different ways. One way is to place the amps/speakers in front and place the rest of the gear on the side (requiring potentially long runs if interconnects).....the other way is to place the rack(s) between (or slightly behind) the speakers.

Is there any benefits to one method over another? I have heard some opine that by placing the gear rack in between the speakers can kill the soundstage....others say poo poo to this and are delighted with their systems. Other folks I have talked to (and own extremely expensive interconnects) do not want to pay $50K for a 35' run of that super expensive interconnect....

I wonder if one places all of the gear in the front but places the rack well behind the speakers (assuming one has the room) then you could still have fantastic sound??

Any feedback is appreciated!!!!

Cheers,
 
Keep racks away from between the speakers as racks tend to diffuse the imaging too much. Amps on strands are ok.

YYMV.
 
i have recently pushed my speakers back to one on each side of the equip rack, and i have lost some soundstage, not sure if it because the rack is there or if it is because i just moved them closer together than before. or a little of both, but it is very minimal loss. im still testing and tomorrow i will pull them out about 2ft in front of the rack at the same width and see how that sounds. before they were about 5ft away from the rack. for me its the fact that a good interconnect that runs that far would cost me alot of money. otherwise i probably would have already moved the equip away.
 
Very few audiophiles have the PERFECT room, you do have to work with what you have, would i rather not have that fireplace on the right ????? you bet BUT it's there i have no choice but to live with it but believe me some are better and some are much worse, ALWAYS think of the one's that are worse than you and ENJOY.

Keep It Simple 1000 X 750.jpg
 
Good Lord Andre', put a blanket over that TV when it's not in use! :D

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MrAcoustat said:
Very few audiophiles have the PERFECT room, you do have to work with what you have, would i rather not have that fireplace on the right ????? you bet BUT it's there i have no choice but to live with it but believe me some are better and some are much worse, ALWAYS think of the one's that are worse than you and ENJOY.
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I find this to be the case for most of us.
 
dlb2 said:
I find this to be the case for most of us.
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Definitely! Personally I've always had my rack or gear between the speakers, but kind of set behind and have never had negative soundstage results. Perhaps because my gear has always been in some sort of cabinet? I don't know. What I do know is that with proper speaker placement (as good as we can in the room we must work in) the "gear rack in the middle" can actually be phased out. I did have a problem with this in the past when I used to place my speakers even and kind of close with the rack or cabinet in the middle, then one day I moved the speakers a bit further away from the cabinet and out front more, properly toed and re-ran the set-up program at hand and the sound stage was much improved. Unfortunately, where I live now I have the soundstage ok, but far from how nice it was in my other places due to room design.
(There is also distance from walls to be considered which also has a big effect on soundstage).
~Eric
 
Petro85 said:
i have recently pushed my speakers back to one on each side of the equip rack, and i have lost some soundstage, not sure if it because the rack is there or if it is because i just moved them closer together than before. or a little of both, but it is very minimal loss. im still testing and tomorrow i will pull them out about 2ft in front of the rack at the same width and see how that sounds. before they were about 5ft away from the rack. for me its the fact that a good interconnect that runs that far would cost me alot of money. otherwise i probably would have already moved the equip away.
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so week long test complete, moved the speakers to a different spot everyday. i moved them today out maybe 16" so the drivers have nothing blocking anything in between, so they are about 2.5ft in front of the equipment and 16" in front of the amps. but kept the speakers close together and just moved my listening chair back the same 16". huge difference in soundstage and bass. pretty much the same spot that i started in with the listening chair, but the speakers are closer together and further away.
so i say keeping that equip out of the middle is definitely a good idea. of course ymmv.
 
Petro85 said:
so week long test complete, moved the speakers to a different spot everyday. i moved them today out maybe 16" so the drivers have nothing blocking anything in between, so they are about 2.5ft in front of the equipment and 16" in front of the amps. but kept the speakers close together and just moved my listening chair back the same 16". huge difference in soundstage and bass. pretty much the same spot that i started in with the listening chair, but the speakers are closer together and further away.
so i say keeping that equip out of the middle is definitely a good idea. of course ymmv.
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Thanks for the update Steve. Have you had a chance to move everything to the long wall yet?
 
dlb2 said:
Thanks for the update Steve. Have you had a chance to move everything to the long wall yet?
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omg doug i stared at it today and studied it and thought about how much work is involved in that. then i ditched the thought.lol. like hanging the squares for records and to put the tv on before i can do anything. i havent been up north yet to pick up the squares. i may just build extra matching ones too. thats a long thread in itself.lmao!!!!
 
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