A 60° included angle means that the distance between the centers of the speakers will be equal to the distance from each speaker to the listener. This is the maximum spread that I recommend. I prefer to position my speakers slightly closer together than this.

Spreading the speakers farther apart does not make the image bigger, it just makes it more diffuse. Time- and phase-correct speakers will produce an image that is not limited in width by the outside edges of the speakers. This image will extend out well beyond the outside edges of the speakers. Placing the speakers slightly closer together than the distance from each speaker to the listen er usually won’t diminish image width and usually will improve image focus.

Think of the speakers as a window through which the performance is viewed, not as the defining boundaries of the space where the performance is occurring and you’ll get a new mental perspective on the question of where to put the speakers.

Complete symmetry in the environment around the speakers is a desirable goal that is often difficult to achieve. A symmetrical environment means that the walls beside and behind the left speaker should be duplicated by mirror image walls beside and behind the right speaker. I am fortunate to have that situation in my room but many living rooms simply won’t allow it.

In my experience, what’s behind and directly beside the speakers is more significant than what’s farther in front of the speakers, towards the listener. What’s behind the speaker is more important than what’s beside it, if you have to choose.