I recently listened to a song by Springsteen called "This Heartland" on my Paradigm monitor 9's with a new yamaha amp. I honestly had to check and make sure the center channel wasn't on by some screw up in the amp. The imaging is unlike anything I've heard, especially since it makes the vocals only sound like they're coming from the center channel which is like 3 feet back from where the fronts are. This kind of imaging makes me think that I might not be taking full advantage of the speakers. I'm wondering:

Is it true that the distance between you and the front of the speakers should be equal to the distance they are apart?

should they be pointed at the listening area, or just straight ahead?

if one is in a corner and the other is 2 feet out of the corner, is that going to cause inconsistencies in sound (sp?)

any input is appreciated.