Apogee stage manual speaker distance chart

It may be hard to believe, but I had my Stages about 18 inches from the wall behind them for the best sound, and they were best on the long wall, firing across the room, not down the center, almost monitor-like.
I didn't measure, but I just used moderate tilt-back.
There was no ringing or beaming or boom.
Not too much depth, though, but they did disappear like no other.

Against all recommendations, I had my Stages 10-inches from
the wall in back of them and they sounded extraordinary,
with no boom. They were on the long wall of a 20x13 room.
Maybe the soundstage would have been deeper with them further from the wall, but the tonality and you-are-there presentation were so fine I didn't care.

They sounded like a wall that I usually hear between speakers and my ears had disappeared.

Yep, the Stages were magic, with vocal tonality so
real in a way I never heard anywhere since, not Quads, not Dynaudio Evidences, not Grande Utopias, or anything else
(although I really liked all of those speakers when I heard them--I'm not criticizing them).

I meant to say above that the Stages were 18 inches from the
wall, not 10.
I do miss their sound; it was an honor to live with them.

They (Stages) were about the easiest speakers to place I ever had.
I could never hear the sound coming from the individual speaker or driver.