Does having an object inbetween the speakers bad?

cables play a big part
the acoustic zen speaker and interconnects image very well

I bought a couple of diffusers to put between my speakers and tv - the tv is back slightly from the front of the drivers. Von Schweikert's image so well you don't notice the tv

Tom

A slight twist...not sure if it's different, but as long as the topic is up...

I've been thinking about a new arrangement for my system that would have the speakers a foot (no more) off the long wall(15 feet). The speakers are designed to have their backs close to the wall, 6-12 inches. In between the speakers would be a six-panel oriental screen that's around 6.5 tp 7 feet wide when set up in the normal mild zig-zag. The screen would be as close to the wall as possible, sort of like this -->

................................................
....|spker|...../ \ / \ / \.....|spker|....

The screen panels are 15 inches wide, anyone that seen a series of these panels can imagine what they might look like when setup in a shallow zig-zag(shallower than the characters above). I know there's nothing like the real thing and testing it, but the topic is up so...

In my case, the speakers front edge needs to be at least 10" in front of my 64" rptv or the sound is deadened. Soundstage doesn't change much. Say a prayer and move the speakers out if you've got the WAF.

Thanks everyone for the response.

Unfortunately, since I have been banished from my study (the wife turned it into a playroom for my kids) I do not have a lot of flexibility in terms of speaker placement. I cannot move the speakers that far from the front the audio rack. I think the best I can do is to have the front of the speakers about 1 ft in front of the audio rack. I will try this tonight and see what happens.

audtiotomb: I actually just bought some Acoustic Zen interconnects today (Silver and Matrix Ref) after auditioning them. You are right, they do seem to improve my imaging especially with regards to female vocals. I get a better holographic image now.