Best Place For Equipment Rack In A Room?

[Audiophilehi]

I am months away from adding an addition to my house which will include a dedicated music room for me. As it’s never too early for planning I am wondering where is the best place for your equipment, Front, side, or back wall?

My amps will be on stands between the speakers and speakers will be about 4 feet from the front wall so if equipment is on the front wall the speakers should fully clear the equipment rack.

[Kal Rubinson]

I prefer not to have it front-and-center in my view when I am listening and to have it placed more conveniently near where I sit. In my case, it is to the right and slightly behind my listening position as it must clear the right surround speaker in my multichannel setup. If I had a stereo-only system, it would be directly to my right.

My other option would be in another room but that is only convenient without physical media.

[PMCH]

Paul, my speakers are about 6' out from my front wall. My amps are between my speakers and my rack is on the side wall. That is my preference for my setup. This did require me to have 7 meters of balanced interconnect cable between my preamp and my amps. Also for me, I noticed improved performance with a better quality interconnect for the longer run. Unfortunately that was not inexpensive.
All the best with your new room. I am sure it will be well worth it once you are done.

[Audiophilehi]

Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson

I prefer not to have it front-and-center in my view when I am listening and to have it placed more conveniently near where I sit. In my case, it is to the right and slightly behind my listening position as it must clear the right surround speaker in my multichannel setup. If I had a stereo-only system, it would be directly to my right.

My other option would be in another room but that is only convenient without physical media.

Thanks Kal!

[Audiophilehi]

Originally Posted by PMCH

Paul, my speakers are about 6' out from my front wall. My amps are between my speakers and my rack is on the side wall. That is my preference for my setup. This did require me to have 7 meters of balanced interconnect cable between my preamp and my amps. Also for me, I noticed improved performance with a better quality interconnect for the longer run. Unfortunately that was not inexpensive.
All the best with your new room. I am sure it will be well worth it once you are done.

Thanks Paul! I'll have to sneak in the long IC in the budget of the room. Please don't tell my wife.

[miner]

Not between the speakers

[Josep]

I am curious to know why not between speakers... sound issue or just aesthetics?

[tima]

In my own case, with the rack on the side and amps between speakers, my system sounds better. It let's me more freely position my Aperture acoustic panels on the wall behind the speakers. It also reduces equipment congestion.

[W9TR]

Originally Posted by Josep

I am curious to know why not between speakers... sound issue or just aesthetics?

A large rack between your speakers creates reflections that are closely spaced in time with the direct sound coming from the speakers themselves. This smears the direct sound, causing a loss of overall fidelity.

Moving the speakers forward and away from the rack will mitigate this issue.

It is the same reason you don’t want a coffee table with a hard top surface between you and your speakers.

Tom

[Kal Rubinson]

Originally Posted by Josep

I am curious to know why not between speakers... sound issue or just aesthetics?

Both but, more than that, ergonomics. I like to have my access to the system close to or at the place where I listen.