As of last year I'm now with Bulldogger on the recliner question, though I like to have the headrest available - I don't know how you could recline without it unless you wear a neck-brace while listening. The sofa does give you the multiple listener option, but I don't require that, and I like to have someplace comfy to rest my arms. Though I don't doubt that having something right behind your head does change the sound a bit, if that something is sonically absorptive, it should be fairly benign. Besides, when you fully sit up the headrest is not against your head, and when you recline it is no longer close to being at a perpendicular angle toward the direct sound arriving at your ears. Anyway, I find the ability to recline and put up your feet to be very conducive to letting yourself dissolve into the music without getting fidgety, looking at your gear, playing with the remote, getting up to change something, etc., but the flexibility of a recliner allows to listen upright when that is best. I also like the fact that it permits you to adjust your ear height relative to the tweeter axis, though you have to compensate for the difference in distance as you recline, so the same chair location may not work equally well for both the reclined and upright positions. I thing an intermediate position is best overall - go too far back and down, and you'll want to fall asleep...
