This is probably more applicable to satellite speakers but maybe bookshelf & biggers speakers are relevant to this too. Out of curiosity, where are your rear speakers set up in relation to your ears from your sitting listening position (my front speakers are set up around 6" above ear level) . My 2 satellite rears are to the left & right of couch on end tables & are both on a 3" art deco object, I use as stands for purely cosmetic reasons. The speakers are about a foot under my ears (they are above my sofas arms). I realise ideally they should be parallel to my ears, but am I sacrificing anything really in Cd sound, DVD sound or TV sound? The reason I'm asking the question is as I said previously I'm moving & I packed my end tables I was watching TV with the speakers on the top of couch- are ear level. I noticed for at least one TV program I watched, the sound dialogue was more immediate at the ear level then when I as an experiment put the speakers on the sofas arms- a foot or so below my ears, where the dialogue sounded more muffled. Curious to see what you people prefer, I may follow your advice. Thanks