Your speakers need breathing room.
I've walked into countless living rooms where beautiful speakers sit pressed against the wall like furniture. The owners wonder why their system sounds flat and congested, why there's no depth to the music, why they can't locate individual instruments in space. The answer is always the same—no room for the soundstage to develop.
When speakers sit tight against the front wall, there's simply no physical space for the illusion of depth to occur. The music stays trapped at the speaker plane instead of opening up behind it. You need at least four feet between the back of your speakers and the wall behind them. More is often better, up to about one-third of your room's length.
This distance gives the soundstage room to bloom. It allows the acoustic energy from the speaker's rear radiation pattern to develop before reflecting back. It creates the physical space where your brain can construct that three-dimensional image of musicians performing in their own distinct locations.
I know what you're thinking—four feet sounds like a lot in a living room. But here's what I've learned: people who commit to proper speaker placement never go back. Once you hear what depth and imaging really sound like, you'll gladly sacrifice the floor space. (Your spouse may have different ideas but that's fodder for another post)
The magic happens in that empty space behind your speakers.
