Frank Abela and others: Distance to the wall beind the Contour 1.8's

In a 12 by 23 room firing down the room, what might the optimal distance be. If I pull the speakers way out into the room (60"), so that I sit slightly further back from the speakers than they are apart, the music lacks input and sounds a bit thin. Frank, is the optimal distance abouy 30"? Then I would be about 12 feet from the speakers. Is that too far back. (with 74" apart). The tonal balance and impact sounds about tight, but images are a wee bit compressed. Is it more important to get tonal balance and impact right?

Jay.