Well, to me, you have answered your own question, I really don't know why it was asked.
I will stick with convention and the learned wisdom of a lot of very experienced people and have my weights up close to the head, I certainly don't have any flexure, vibration or balance problems to worry about.
Good luck on your project.
You might want to have a look at this:
http://www.tfn.net/~blombard/book/8-...atorialMts.pdf
Cheers
JohnG