@333jeffery Please do bother. And I mean that sincerely. Your thoughts on this topic are important. And learning is a two way street. Can you share more about why you have chosen the speaker placement that you have?
I’m lucky in that my wife hasn’t pushed back on the size of the DIs, their look, or their now better placement out (somewhat) in the room. I know she isn’t crazy about these three things, but has managed to keep her peace.
Ideally, and as many have already similarly commented, I’d have the DIs (and most speakers, but especially those that are rear ported) way out in the room without anything between them. Just two speakers with the appropriate wall treatments to optimize the room. Speakers shine this way. They relax and breathe and open up. It’s like being given a new lease on life and one can imagine them jumping in joy because they are so happy and grateful for it.
Since @james_w514 has agreed to do the against the wall test, I’d encourage you to try your Ulfs out in the room free from the cabinet and walls. Should be easy enough to do and get a feel for what differences (if any) you are able to hear. You’ve got a great system with high end components feeding the Ulfs.
Eric was very clear in his communication to me, and has been consistent in his comments on not needing the DIs that far from the wall. I imagine he feels the same about the Ulfs.
I started closer to the wall and then chose a spot that is a tradeoff but does offer better placement (about 3.5 feet from the front wall). My room remains untreated (still waiting on the renovation to be completed...lots of delays) but I do have very thick and absorbent drapery on two chairs about 2 feet behind the ports.
Like James, I will also test, closer to the wall, when I need to move stuff around in the system. And then with the speakers pulled out into the room much more so than they are now. All this talk on placement has me interested on rechecking now that my system is fully broken in across the board. My experience tells me what the results will be...but I’m open to checking on this possible bias.
[PS. I’ve tried to post a pic of my system in the Agon system page but the handshake with the Agon photo loading software and Google Photos isn’t happening].