Its a trade off. In my room over the years its been quite the sound lab. At first completely empty it was easy to hear even the smallest change. Put just one amp on the floor between the speakers, or a TV screen, even way back a good 5 feet behind the speakers, doesn't matter the sound stage takes a hit.
One time, true story, record company VP says sounds real nice, but left side, imaging not quite as good. Well I had left one record leaning up against the wall by the left speaker. So some of these record company honchos have pretty good ears. And yes even that one little record did make a difference.
There are things you can do to mitigate this- acoustic panels, tube trap, whatever. None are quite as good as nothing being there.
But then moving everything way off to the side or behind, that has costs too. Literally. As in, good wire ain't cheap. And let me tell you, the hit you take having something between the speakers is nothing compared to the hit you take running cheap wire. Which you have to do when its long. But not when its short.
So what did I say? Oh yeah: Its a trade off. You do what you can- listen, adjust, listen, compare.
What else you gonna do? Listen to a bunch of interweb wanna bees?
