Nsgarch, it is not up to Bigtoe to give a 'scientific' explanation for the placement of power amp not being critical, but for you to explain why placement makes a difference.
And, as for the reason why long speaker cable runs are worse than long IC runs, the reason why damping lowers with longer speaker cables is simply due to the added resistance of the cable, not to the other implied impedences (reactivity and capacitance) and is easily mitgated with the proper size cable.
I won't comment on the 'smearing' of signals contention, except to say that any 'smearing' that might occur in speaker cables is only theoretical and much smaller than the inherent smearing of the speakers themselves.
Bob P.
PS. I place my power amp near the speakers not for the reasons that you have stated, but for convenience - I can see the power level indicators and there is no room near my pre-amp.
And, as for the reason why long speaker cable runs are worse than long IC runs, the reason why damping lowers with longer speaker cables is simply due to the added resistance of the cable, not to the other implied impedences (reactivity and capacitance) and is easily mitgated with the proper size cable.
I won't comment on the 'smearing' of signals contention, except to say that any 'smearing' that might occur in speaker cables is only theoretical and much smaller than the inherent smearing of the speakers themselves.
Bob P.
PS. I place my power amp near the speakers not for the reasons that you have stated, but for convenience - I can see the power level indicators and there is no room near my pre-amp.