I never have a problem placing plants directly under a 600w mh, I have a desktop fan always blowing under the light towards the extractor to remove heat and usually leave the light bout 1.5ft to 2 ft away from them let them grow SLIGHTLY towards the light not too much or they will be lanky and watch for any signs of heat stress if so move the light up higher, you will be surprised at how close you can have them to the light, the secret is watching them, they stretch you lower the light, they show signs of heat stress raise the light.
I believe the key is having that fan removing heat from directly underneath the light. I've seen bud bout 1ft away from 600w hps without a problem.
Leave the light 5 feet away and they will stretch and probably fall over.