The system components give you potential, realising it is another matter. At least that’s been my experience.
I’ve tried Sumiko Masterset for speaker placement but always get lost after the first speaker is set, nevertheless I did achieve its goal of a walk around stereo image the first time I used it so keep trying it when I have suitable speakers.
My current speakers are not suitable, they’re designed to go as close to the wall behind them as possible, which needs to be a solid one, 5.5cm seems to balance the bass about right and with the aid of some if Herbie's Gliders I can adjust them to the mm. Lateral placement seems to have a big impact on the sense if scale.
Current setup sees two adjacent chairs, as I don’t listen alone a lot of the time, a couple of m from the wall behind them. Speakers are against the front wall, there’s 1.2 and 1.5m to the side walls and a wall mounted TV between them. The system’s off to the side, and yes one of the racks is in a corner but this is mostly power supplies, the sensitive stuff is on the adjacent rack. The stereo image goes back into the wall, enough to give a pretty good impression of a symphony orchestra in there with the right recording but more importantly the music can swing and has a life to it that draws me in, It’s sounding the best it ever has.
And now I’m about to blow it by moving, and the house I’m moving to has dry lined walls throughout. I think I’ll need to change speakers but at least the living room, though asymmetrical, is a decent size so both speakers and listening chairs can be at least a metre from the nearest wall. I’ve a feeling this will take some sorting out.