Speaker placement

Boy does that ring a bell! I started with Acoustats then I moved on to Quad 63's (for better resolution) and did most every thing you mentioned including changing electronics, wires, etc. I spent over three years of my life(!) trying to tune them in. I'm a slow learner I think, but I finally gave up. I went back to boxes and the sun shone brightly again. A walk in the park in comparison! And I got to apply successfully all that I had learned. There is a Santa Claus. :-)

I guess I should clarify that I don't find the speaker placement issue a bad thing.

I've always appproached this hobby as a work in progress.
Here's one thing that I've done that's given me some help in arriving at where my speakers are now-more radically towed in.

I listen to headphones-AKG K702-Burson headphone amp-and then because they are almost like headphones, I place the Acoustats in my room to try and replicate that sound.

So far this has worked for me.

Interesting. I didn't try that with my Acoustats or Quads but I did angle them so that their backwave hit the sidewall behind the speaker as opposed to the backwall. Sort of diffused the backwave as it lengthened the on axis signal path. This created substantial toe in but the axis would have crossed behind my head. Now with boxes, I toe them in so that the axis crosses in front of me so I avoid a lot of sidewall issues which were not so much a problem with the Stats or Quads. So much to consider....:-)

Do yourself a favor - put away your tape measure and listen with your heart. Check out my description of the Master Set process on myspeakersetup.com

Hifibouncer, I set up my speakers starting with the L and R spkrs near the side walls, moving each toward the middle. (from some online advice). I did not know this was the Sumiko Setup; but it worked well for me.
I just used your method of setting the rake angle and WOW, it has an incredible effect. Thanks for sharing.

ps.. I wonder why dealers never talk about using rake angle with speakers.