Here is a set up to try in a narrow room and has allowed me to maintain some spread between the speakers and far enuf away from the listening chair. It should give you a reasonable sound stage.
Set you speakers out into the room so the fronts are about 5 feet from the back wall.
Move your speakers so that the center of the speaker is one and a half feet from the side wall (closer than most anyone ever recommends) so you have a full 7 feet between the speakers.
Move your listening chair until your heads position is 5 feet into the room.
Now toe your speaker in to a point where the axis crosses in front of your chair (2 to 3 feet in front of your head). This will substantially reduce the 1st reflections from the side wall.
If you find that at all sonically decent, you can fine tune the highs, first by putting some deadening materiels on the walls to reduce first reflections. Then you can fine tune the speakers by small incremental movements of the speakers and listening chair forward and backwards until the bass is smooth and the highs are clear. Play with toe in all the time.
Hope that helps a bit.
BTW, I started out using the Cardas System, but it was just a starting point. The trick is in getting a nearly equallateral triangle set up in YOUR room to work. You need to keep an open mind/ears because they are just general guideline. And, most importantly, I tuned my set up over many months making small movements and having long listening sessions. You can't get this done well just on one rainy afternoon. :-)
Set you speakers out into the room so the fronts are about 5 feet from the back wall.
Move your speakers so that the center of the speaker is one and a half feet from the side wall (closer than most anyone ever recommends) so you have a full 7 feet between the speakers.
Move your listening chair until your heads position is 5 feet into the room.
Now toe your speaker in to a point where the axis crosses in front of your chair (2 to 3 feet in front of your head). This will substantially reduce the 1st reflections from the side wall.
If you find that at all sonically decent, you can fine tune the highs, first by putting some deadening materiels on the walls to reduce first reflections. Then you can fine tune the speakers by small incremental movements of the speakers and listening chair forward and backwards until the bass is smooth and the highs are clear. Play with toe in all the time.
Hope that helps a bit.
BTW, I started out using the Cardas System, but it was just a starting point. The trick is in getting a nearly equallateral triangle set up in YOUR room to work. You need to keep an open mind/ears because they are just general guideline. And, most importantly, I tuned my set up over many months making small movements and having long listening sessions. You can't get this done well just on one rainy afternoon. :-)