Ideally, you want the front of your speakers to be in front of (closer to you than) the front of your TV. But this is secondary. What's more important to movie and 5.1 music listening is that you get your speakers the same distance from the sides of your TV. So if the left speaker is 3 feet away from the left side of the TV, the right speaker should be 3 feet from the right side of the TV.