I've got news Gary, it is always a compromise. Nearer to walls is more bass not less. Farther from walls is less bass not more. This goes both for the speakers and you. Where you sit matters as much for bass response as where you put the speakers. Don't take my word for it, play something with bass, move around and hear how much it changes depending on where you are.
The biggest single factor in stereo imaging is speakers that are perfectly symmetrical and equidistant. The biggest room factor that can screw that up is first side wall reflections. If they arrive too early or are too loud that is no good. Too early we fix in a big room by moving speakers at least 3 feet from the side walls. You can't do that so next best is a small acoustic panel to absorb that first reflection. Key word being small- it is real easy to over damp a small room and make it dead. One foot square should cover it.
Then you experiment. Move speakers closer or further apart, a little at a time, and listen. Each time you move the speakers try and listen from a couple different locations- closer to a wall, further away. You will eventually figure out the best you can do in your room and then it is what it is. I have a dedicated room, much bigger. But the process is exactly the same. And yes it is a compromise.
The biggest single factor in stereo imaging is speakers that are perfectly symmetrical and equidistant. The biggest room factor that can screw that up is first side wall reflections. If they arrive too early or are too loud that is no good. Too early we fix in a big room by moving speakers at least 3 feet from the side walls. You can't do that so next best is a small acoustic panel to absorb that first reflection. Key word being small- it is real easy to over damp a small room and make it dead. One foot square should cover it.
Then you experiment. Move speakers closer or further apart, a little at a time, and listen. Each time you move the speakers try and listen from a couple different locations- closer to a wall, further away. You will eventually figure out the best you can do in your room and then it is what it is. I have a dedicated room, much bigger. But the process is exactly the same. And yes it is a compromise.