I feel you on the closeness of the speakers. I live in a small cabin, and space is constrained. It’s hard to see in the picture, but I have the speakers pulled forward of the rack, where the majority of the sound is coming from the front. And I do get the notion of the side radiation as well. I don’t play too loudly, and the listening position is only about 10 feet away, Reverberations are never too significant.
The speakers are favorites of mine, Paradigm Reference Studio 40 V2, made around 2000. I have two pair, one in another location. I just sourced these this year, in immaculate condition. I bi-wire them, which made a surprising difference.