Speaker positioning: why do audiophiles neglect this so much?

I always adjust/measure my 2 channel speakers by toe in and measuring distance to the "old" sweet spot, plus distances between speakers, the back wall, side walls, from audio rack etc, and once adjusted they stay put. My Monitor Audio Platinum PL300ii are a pain to tweak/adjust at 120lbs a piece. 

Even my HT speakers are all the same height off the floor mounted on the wall. 

I just put my stuff in a different room. Almost a dedicated room, except for a grand piano. It's very live with lots of hard surfaces. Other than putting down some kind of large area rug, I'm not going to do much else. There is no place for more upholstered furniture (the best room "treatment") and I refuse to have ridiculous looking difusers/absorbers on the walls. Even now, the room sounds great. I'd rather have an overly lively room than a dead one.

Rough crowd here.  Guess I touched a nerve!

Of course one cannot tell how a system sounds by viewing photo's.  What one CAN see, however, is that many such systems are FAR from optimized within a space.

Some basics:

Don't place the speakers too near any wall (except the few that are DESIGNED to work specifically THAT way - very few are).

Don't place the primary listening position near a wall.

Don't place the bulk of the equipment between the speakers (amplifiers sitting on floor stands excepted).

Avoid corner placement of any equipment.

Avoid over driving a room (giant speakers in a small room).

Don't place speakers and listening position at opposite extremes within a room (thus maximizing the sonic signature and associated reflections of the space itself).

These are just a few basics Jim Smith and other knowledgeable people have espoused.

Yet the focus remains 90% on the equipment, despite the dominant effects of the above issues.  Not addressing these issues hurts no one.  It just limits the sonic potential of the equipment, like putting a 60 mph limiter on a Porsche turbo.

Actually, you may be surprised how good speakers can sound near, 1 - 1.5 feet, from side walls. Depends on many factors I pointed to in a previous post. My findings based on doing many hours of listening tests with speakers not necessarily sold for corner placement. Be careful with absolute type statements in audio. They rarely, if ever,  turn out to be absolute and universal.

I can safely share this one absolute statement.  You must try all the various placement and listening positions options available in your space. Pick the one that sounds best to you. It may mirror conventional wisdom, or not! 

There are no hard a fast rules about loudspeaker/listener positioning.  Whatever works, works.  Real world considerations come into play and the "optimal" solution may not be doable or even desirable.  Let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

BTW, if your equipment is low to the floor it can be placed between the loudspeakers without any detriment to the sonics.