Two questions- physics, and upgrades being worth it. Upgrades are always better. That's why they're called upgrades. Otherwise they're called flipping, rolling, trading, etc.
Physics, that one's more complicated.
The distance between, its not that it doesn't matter its that it matters in a way that's a lot more complex than simple.
If you are sitting dead center between them and at the right distance away then the 3.5 feet will be fine. The main thing by far is perfect symmetry, which is why I can hear sound staging even from my MacBook Pro.
But large flat surfaces reflect sound, and there's a lot of those in a kitchen. Large flat surfaces also provide bass reinforcement. The physics of it is the frequency coming out of the speaker reflects off the surface and depending on the frequency gets reinforced or cancels as it propagates outward towards you.
You can hold a speaker in your hand, raise and lower it near a counter top, cabinet or wall, and hear the tone change with distance. Its pretty obvious. Some places will generate a boxy or closed in sound. Others more open. Some good bass reinforcement. Others none.
This tonal difference can be heard everywhere, while imaging can only be heard from one spot. Since you'll likely be moving around the kitchen then it'll probably be a waste of time to set them up for imaging but setting them up for tone and response will matter.
Moving them farther apart will only create a situation where you mostly hear the one you're closest to. The other one will be echo, reverb, which you already have too much of in a kitchen.
So the physics of the matter is very close together in a location that offers good response and directed towards the area you spend the most time is the way to go.
You can learn a lot playing around with simple little systems like this. Everything you learn is directly applicable to every other system. So good to know.
Physics, that one's more complicated.
The distance between, its not that it doesn't matter its that it matters in a way that's a lot more complex than simple.
If you are sitting dead center between them and at the right distance away then the 3.5 feet will be fine. The main thing by far is perfect symmetry, which is why I can hear sound staging even from my MacBook Pro.
But large flat surfaces reflect sound, and there's a lot of those in a kitchen. Large flat surfaces also provide bass reinforcement. The physics of it is the frequency coming out of the speaker reflects off the surface and depending on the frequency gets reinforced or cancels as it propagates outward towards you.
You can hold a speaker in your hand, raise and lower it near a counter top, cabinet or wall, and hear the tone change with distance. Its pretty obvious. Some places will generate a boxy or closed in sound. Others more open. Some good bass reinforcement. Others none.
This tonal difference can be heard everywhere, while imaging can only be heard from one spot. Since you'll likely be moving around the kitchen then it'll probably be a waste of time to set them up for imaging but setting them up for tone and response will matter.
Moving them farther apart will only create a situation where you mostly hear the one you're closest to. The other one will be echo, reverb, which you already have too much of in a kitchen.
So the physics of the matter is very close together in a location that offers good response and directed towards the area you spend the most time is the way to go.
You can learn a lot playing around with simple little systems like this. Everything you learn is directly applicable to every other system. So good to know.