How far apart do you position your speakers ?

Jim Smith (of "Get Better Sound") says that the distance apart should be 83% of the distance to your ears. While I don't embrace all of his suggestions, this rule has worked well for me in the past. In fact, in placing my speakers via trail and error BEFORE I read Jim's book, I ended up with an 84% differential.

Jim Smith arrives at the distance between speakers by measuring from the center of the tweeters. The distance to the listening position is from the tweeter to your ear. I'm sure there are situations where the 83% formula does not result in the best sound--every room and speaker are different--but I have found that this tends to work best when I've tried it not only on my own system but with friends as well. Another interesting "tip" in Jim's book is that you should sit fairly close to the rear wall--say between one and two feet. I did not sit anywhere near the rear wall in my old listening room but since moving and setting up in a different space I am now 16" from the wall behind me and am getting very good sound.