All Merlin family members.

for what it's worth, if i could i would have nothing in between the speakers except for the amp on the floor. i would treat the front wall as necessary. in reality i have a low, wide 22" high cabinet with a plasma tv on the wall. i'm having a cover made from the same material as our curtains to put over the plasma (it's for my wife, of course, not the sound). this setup is because of the room in which the speakers are placed. it may not be *ideal* from a sound standpoint but i actually prefer it this way in some respects to even a dedicated room. i used to have a *dedicated* space in our other house but i am listening to them much more now. they are in the room where we spend most of our time. i'm able to enjoy them almost everyday along with my wife (i'm one of those crazy guys that likes spending time with his wife). so although perhaps the setup is not ideal from a sound standpoint (i don't really think I am giving up much) i am actually enjoying them much more and am finding much more value in the $$$ i've invested. just something to keep in mind as you make decisions about these things.

While I agree that its better to have nothing between or behind the speakers, I've had less negative impact in a larger room, with speakers positioned relatively further into the room. IOW, if there's still plenty of air between and behind the speakers, it isn't quite as problematic as the same setup in a smaller room.
One point worth addressing when you place gear on a side wall; don't place a turntable at the primary reflection point, or you risk creating a feedback problem. Ideally, you would want room treatments at that spot anyway. Cheers,
Spencer

I recently relocated several equipment racks that had been in between and 1' behind my VSM-MXs, to remote locations away from the speakers. Now the opening between the speakers is 8' wide and about 3' deep to the front wall, with only the amp on the floor. Imaging improved, the soundstage expanded vertically and horizontally, but surprising I'm not getting much greater depth than before.

In my room the Merlins are better than the Wilson W3/P2s they replaced by any measure except for depth of soundstage. The Wilsons produced great depth when placed in nearfield positions well out into the room. Merlin VSMs don't work well in the nearfield.

Next step is to treat the cleared front wall.

Dave

that will help dave as i am sure you have a lot of reflected energy conflicting with the direct radiated information. this will obscure the contrast potential.
none of my designs are nearfield monitors. they are too uniform for that and are designed with their power response rather than nearfield on axis.
hope it works.
bobby

Are there some front wall treatments that work better than others? ie....cloth wrapped insulation, heavy carpet, drapes etc. Does one really have to go to this extent?

I suppose ideally, if your wall is 13 ft. wide, you should cover the whole thing, right?