Location of AV components with projector setup?

You'll get a mix of answers that probably depends more on what space is available in the room, more than preference. I think most folks would agree that given the choice, having the gear in the back or on the side of the room is preferred. But not because of the distance to the projector. Rather, gear in the front can be distracting (lights, displays, etc.), and it's inconvenient to access while the projector is in use. Much easier to deal with something without walking in front of everyone and putting the shadow of your head in the middle of the image.

Jeff

Depends on what you plan on using for a rack and maybe type and number of components you will be using. Also if you don't plan on installing and using a repeater, you may not have much choice but front so that your remotes are functional. Sorry if that is elementary, but I did not know what a repeater was until joining this Site a few months ago. Learning something new each day. I used a $40 black pressed wood rack found on craigslist. put it in the back right of my room and the remotes still work:) if pointed up

Ideally, you want you'd want your HDMI run to the projector to be as short as possible to minimize any signal issues. However, a lot of times the projector ends up being mounted in the middle of the room, so it's about the same distance to the front as it is the back. From my experience, the ONLY advantage to having equipment in the front of the room is that you can just point the remote at everything and not have to worry about repeaters or IR/RF converters.

That being said, my current and past two theaters have had equipment mounted 1) slightly behind the seating, 2) just to the side and in front of the seating, and 3) in the back of the room. Neither of these options caused me any distractions or took away from the movie experience. My current build has the equipment in the very back of the room, which I do tend to prefer. It's also in a central point to the larger area of the basement so that is can easily be accessed during parties and get togethers as well.

Based on the PDF you just uploaded, I'd go with installing the equipment in the side wall under the stairs. You'd have access to the rear without any additional construction, and the heat would vent naturally through that cavity.

I have all but one AV gear in the back. Less lights to distract.

Is there any type of stage or riser in the front of the room? Otherwise, you can always go under the carpet near the screen wall or even behind the baseboards with some of the flat cables designed for this approach.