Does having an object inbetween the speakers bad?

It's really not that easy to answer and depends on if the rack is between, but behind the speakers, or between and foreward of the speakers. The horizontal dispersion of most moving coil speakers is frequency dependent and the interaction of the stand and the unique dispersion pattern of your speakers may be giving you some problems at certain frequencies. Try moving the stand back, or even foreward, a small amount, the interaction may change more than you think.

Thanks everyone for the response.

Unfortunately, since I have been banished from my study (the wife turned it into a playroom for my kids) I do not have a lot of flexibility in terms of speaker placement. I cannot move the speakers that far from the front the audio rack. I think the best I can do is to have the front of the speakers about 1 ft in front of the audio rack. I will try this tonight and see what happens.

audtiotomb: I actually just bought some Acoustic Zen interconnects today (Silver and Matrix Ref) after auditioning them. You are right, they do seem to improve my imaging especially with regards to female vocals. I get a better holographic image now.

Tboooe, from my experience trying different interconnects will greatly enhance a good system, increasing transparency etc but will not transform an inferior one. I try to select gear that is known to offer a large three dimensional soundstage. Unfortunately I have had gear in the distant past that only offered a 2D sound in the same room. The culprit can be just the preamp, power amp, or both. Replacing this undesireable gear was a revelation for me. By no means am I suggesting your gear is inferior but you would have to come to your own conclusions maybe after trying everything else including some of the above suggestions.

thanks Phd. I totally agree with your post. I am actually in the midst of upgrading both my preamp and amp. My shortlist is currently Classe, Ayre, and BAT.

Taboooe, your shortlist is excellent. I especially like the Bat. I understand this amp is a zero negative feedback design and has only two gain stages (a very good thing!). Build quality is about the best I've seen & should provide the sound your looking for.