Elizabeth,
What did it for you is the length of the room.
I needed another 6' so off they went.
Maybe someday after I retire I'll be able to give them another go.
Yeah.. current place now 12 years plus. The 'living room' is kind of merged into the hall to front door, with a closet between the hall and the kitchen which is two feet deeper past the 3 ft width of the dual closet (one face hall, one faces kitchen space) The bulge of the closet is directly behind the middle of the listening space.
The kitchen opens a bit further to the left behind (along with the hall to the bed and bath rooms.) but that is really not too important since that is already ten feet back from the speakers, and the left living room wall extends three feet back of my listening position, which is right in the middle of the whole space. One big plus is the whole building is really quiet. all old codgers. One way I can tell if the bass is too loud is in the bathroom, which is far enough away to develop low tones rather well. If no rumble or boom boom in there.. no sweat, the bass tones are not going into others apartments. A few years ago I asked he manager is any complaints, and he said no one ever said anything, and he himself never heard anything, when passing my door either. So I feel pretty good about keeping it toned down
My last apartment (17 years) was very similar, except the kitchen was directly behind the living room, and only had a partial low wall separating it from living room, so that too made that room bigger being able to use the kitchen space as if part of the listening area. In that apt I sat close in front of the little wall so the chair back was pretty much right at it. That was when I was younger, and I blasted music some times, and so did others...