| I agree. My speakers are mounted on the walls just below the ceiling to either side of the couch. In fact one is closer to the couch than the other.
My Yamaha has a mic that allows you to perform an auto-setup. The sound stage is great.
I tried to make it perfect, but unless you set up a room specifically for HT you will be SOL...at least that has been my experience. My lady will come along and say something like: "you know, I think that the couch looks better over here..."
Most good recievers are set up to accomodate various speaker sizes. Some brands are create an outstanding soundstage.
Mainly it is up to your ears to decide...everyone is different. What sounds good to you? Go to the stores and bring the audio format of dvd that you will be listening to. Have them demo the speakers using just the amp (or comparable amp) to what you will be purchasing...a lot of times the guys at stores will add in a better amplifier, or additional speakers and give you a false impression of the speakers that you are listening to. If they pull that trick it is perfectly legal, in most states, to grab a bat and start hitting things until the rectify the situation. "Rhino said it was ok to...," is also a perfectly acceptable reason for such behavior if people wearing badges to ask any questions.
Towers will impart more midrange. If you go with towers make sure that you match your center and surrounds. Polk has a great website for checking out what speakers work well together. I also relly like my Energy speakers. | 
