Square room Soundstage??

That is a TOUGH room size, about as bad as it gets for taming room acoustics and nodes. You're going to have a heavy bass node around 63-65hz, and a big suckout around 95hz, then another node about 125-130hz. Add on top of that early high-amplitude reflections from all walls, and you have a difficult setup. Square rooms essentially double the size of nodes and nulls because of being equidistant.

Your only hope is to treat every wall. I would start with something like GIK tri-traps in all 4 corners of the room, floor to ceiling if you can. Then treat side walls with 2" thick panels to tame reflections, treat behind speakers on the front wall with either 2" or 4" thick panels, and then diffusors on the back wall behind your seating position. Fortunately it's small room which will keep costs down. Also put down some thick carpet if you don't have it already, and use a fabric chair or couch for your listening seat (not leather).

Don't think about buying new speakers at this point because big or small, the room acoustics will impact them the same way. Without doubt the treatments will improve the situation considerably, but impossible to know if they'll improve it enough for you to be happy until after installation.

Near field is producing the best results in that room because it helps take the room out of the equation. The first impulse (direct from the speakers) is higher in amplitude relative to the room reflections. In a way, that confirms that treating the room will improve results. At this point, that's all you should be thinking about - improving the room. Until you do that, you're just setting yourself up for a frustrating experience.

Darkstar - read over my earlier response again. I think the details you need are included, but to try and clarify.

In a very small room like that, you need to cover most of your wall space with treatments. Not necessarily floor to ceiling, but 4 foot panels centered height wise with the speakers. In the corners you will need heavy bass trapping, again I'll recommend floor to ceiling GIK tri-traps in at least 2 corners, and preferably all 4. A GIK soffet trap would work as well, and could be considered.

For the front wall behind the speakers, you'll have about 6 - 6.5 feet of wall left after the tri-traps. I'd put 3 2'x4' panels there which would cover the entire width of the wall. 2" thick panels will work, 4" might be better but more expensive.

Side walls, I'd suggest 2 2'x4' panels per wall, spaced close to each other, and centered on the first reflection point. I'd go with 2" thick panels here.

For the rear wall a diffuser would be the best option I belive. Quality diffusers aren't cheap though, and I'd think you will need about 4'x4' of coverage.

The cheaper panels will work just fine for the most part. Some more expensive panels have things like high frequency membranes, or a wood frame that stands them off from the wall for greater effectiveness. But get whatever fits your budget. You can even make your own for very cheap. I get 4'x8' sheets of rockwool, OC703 equivalent, for about $32 at my local commercial construction supplier ... and Roxul AFB for even cheaper per square foot.

Bottom line is you'll never be happy with that room until you treat it.

To the poster before you, Hew - there's a HUGE difference between a 12'x14' room and a 8.5' square room. I've heard 12x14 rooms sound pretty darn good with no treatments at all, the 8.5 square room however is just about a worst case scenario. Good luck!