Although it looks in the pic like they may be straight ahead..they are indeed toed to a point crossed just past the listening position. I have tried various placements with this being the best in my system. Same was true for the 81's..Please dont get me wrong, they are a great speaker.
Now, I also have a completely different system with the 71's than with the 81's which was powered by a Plinius SA250 and ARC LS25, Wadia, and Transparent cables. Of note... I ran them under brake in in conditions to about 350 hours before I ultimately sold them. I may indeed have needed more time on them to fully break in and the boxy, closed in upper mids to ameliorate in quality, perhaps the 81's would do better on my current Stingray, although the specs say not a good match. I also think that the 81's may have been too much speaker for my space, as the bass was too much at times.
Another cavaet for me is that I listen in the near field, about 9ft from the speakers, which may have been too close for the 81's to properly integrate in my room. They actually may do much better from a further distance.The new owner is a friend and he has no problems of boxiness to speak of..so that may tell you that my room and the 81's were just not synergistic. This is just my opinion and experience of course. One thing for sure..they offer tremendous value and quality for the price.