gmosley - Room placement is an art of its own. This forum can guide you to literature / information on that subject. Thiel products are wide-dispersion transducers, so try to keep them away from side walls or treat the walls more so than with many other speakers.
Thiel’s grilles are multi-purpose. In addition to the aesthetics, they also fill the edges of the baffle to reduce diffraction. Better if you use them.
The EQ extends bass to about 25Hz - worth the extra pair of interconnects.