Measure your room...hmm...how about simply listening to your system? Move the speakers...never rely on the opinions of anybody else as your earballs are attached to your head. My speakers are horns and my sweet spot for critical or optimal listening is around 8 or 9 feet from the speakers...interestingly, further out in the room (long room with 18' ceilings, huge stone fireplace along one wall, huge euro style windows...blah blah) it sounds like real musicians are playing from one end, and that also sounds great. I thought when we bought the place a couple of years ago, that room would be Horribilus El Reflecto...it's not, sounds great. A great live music room also...who knew?
The problem with absorption panels- it kills the fine details
If you’ve ever removed your absorption panels, you’ll find that you’ll hear a lot more detail and there is more openness. Truth is all those fine pressure amplitudes that add so much to enjoyable listening are considerably extinguished with absorption panels. The room seems quieter with absorption panels because all the fine detail is diminished.
It sounds different, so people think it sounds better. Absorption panels can kill good sounding music. I removed most of the absorption panels, and things actually sounded better. All the furniture in the room and the bookshelves were doing their thing in a great way. So I’ve concluded I really don’t need all that crap on the walls.