I'm in a bit of a quandry as far as speaker placement is concerned. My room is 16'wide x 18' deep with a cathederal ceiling running from 10' at the listener side up to 26' on the wall where the main speakers will be. On top of that, one whole side of the room fully opened to a loft area. So, here's my question.

The only way I can configure the furniture would partially block M80's to the point where I can't actually see the bottom 1/4th (or so) of the speakers. The couches that partially block the "view" are about 3' from one speaker and 4' from the other. Does this make floor standing speakers a "no go" and limit me to bookshelves (which will be unobstructed) even though the room seems exceptionally large to me. BTW, the listening area is 12' from the mains. Thanks guys!!!