Time/intensity trading (speaker axes criss-crossing in front of the listening area) has been described and/or alluded to several times in this thread. I have been building speakers deliberately designed to be compatible with a time/intensity trading configuration for more than two decades. Ime there are certain characteristics speakers need to have on order for a time/intensity trading configuration to work well.
The speakers need to have a fairly narrow and uniform radiation pattern down to at least 1.5 kHz. The radiation pattern widths I have found to work well have been between 60 degrees and 100 degrees (-6 dB at 30 to 50 degrees off-axis), though I suspect well-behaved coverage out as far as 120 degrees would still work well (this based on commentary about the JBL M2). I have found some trial-and-error is usually called for to get the toe-in angles right, with 45 degrees being a good starting point. In general, the narrower coverage angles work better with a bit less toe-in. At audio shows I always have a least one chair to the outside of the speakers, WELL off-centerline, and whenever someone takes that chair because the room is too crowded I always ask them how the imaging was from that location when the song ends. They are always pleasantly surprised and say it was enjoyable.
With appropriate speakers and set-up, ime time/intensity trading results in a good soundstage even well off-centerline. Some off-centerline locations will be better than others but ime pretty much all practical off-centerline listening locations will have better soundstaging than with wide-pattern conventional speakers.
Unfortunately relatively few speakers meet the criteria described in the second paragraph above, and I have yet to encounter a successful time/energy trading configuration using "conventional" speakers. So it is seldom a realistic option.
Duke