Wayne Parham Messages: 18787 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
I've installed several sets of speakers with L/R facing straight-forward or with just a little bit of toe-in. It works fine, sounds great. Don't take away the impression that speakers with toe-in sound great but without toe-in sound bad. It's not like that, not that black and white.
The biggest difference is what happens when seated off-center. There is a much smaller "sweet spot" when you point them straight forward. In a very small room, this may not matter too much because you can't help but sit pretty close to the center. That's been the situation in most cases where I've setup with little toe-in. It's not ideal, but nothing is really ideal in a room that's very small. The side reflections are stronger, as are all reflections. You just can't take advantage of the directivity as well. But they're still great sounding speakers.
As for hanging them upside down, yes, that's fine. As long as the listeners are within the 90°x40° coverage pattern of the speakers, they'll enjoy good sound.