I was at best buy the other day and they had a blu-ray clip of Open Season playing. And I was standing about 4 feet from it and I thought: "my tv sure didn't have this much detail when I watched this film." I have a 50" Sony KDS50a2000 and am sitting about 8.5-9 feet away. I've known the recommended seating distances for a 50" 1080p tv is like 6.5 feet.. which seems REALLY close to me. But based on what I saw, I thought I'd try moving things closer. I'm just under 7 now and the improvement in detail is pretty dramatic. Good thing, right?

Now, what do I do with my speakers?? Who sits six feet away from their speakers? That can't be good. I had the audio so perfectly set up... the fronts were 7.5 away, spread about six. The sides aren't too big of a deal as I can just move them in line with the seating position. If I move the tv closer, it obviously moves my fronts that much closer too. The center channel is on a stand in front of the tv and I had the fronts an equal distance away from the listening position.

For all you that sit closer to your tv, what do you do with the speakers? Any set up tips? I've thought about moving the mains back, but because of the equipment racks they would have to be further spread out than I'd like. I know you can compensate for distances in the receiver but I had such a seemless sound keeping them all the same distance.. I was reading that for tower speakers(I have the energy rc-30s for my mains) you need to be a bit back for them to fully blend. They'd really at most be 6.5 feet away if I kept them as is. Is that too close? I know the "try it and see" is good advice here and I have been doing that. I'm just hoping for other opinions for other "near" watchers.

Who sits six feet away from their speakers? That can't be good.Why can't it be good? If your speakers work well in the nearfield, there can actually be advantages to having them close (you hear more of your speakers and less of the room).

Sanjay