While it is generally recommended that dipolar surrounds be place directly to the side of the listening area, Axiom surrounds (QS4 and QS8) are quadpolar rather than dipolar. They tend do be very forgiving when it comes to placement.
From the Axiom FAQ:
Where should I place my surround speakers?
Ideally, surround speakers should be either wall-mounted or stand-mounted to either side of the couch or primary listening area, from one to six feet higher than seated listeners' ears, and slightly forward or rearwards of the listening area if you wish. Axiom's Quadpolar surrounds are especially versatile and can yield excellent performance with stand or wall-mounting to the rear as well as at side locations. (see our dedicated stands for the QS Surround speakers in the Store). Rear center speakers for 6.1 and 7.1 installations are intended to go on the rear wall at about the same height as the surround speakers.
Most all of us live in the real world where speaker placement, due to many "real world" factors, is less than ideal. You will find that the forum members have their surrounds mounted in a variety of ingenious places, including hanging from the ceiling on the FM brackets, mounted on rear walls, or mounted high, and/or greatly to the rear on the side walls, etc.
