I position mine directly to my right and it's close enough to me that I can reach over and adjust the volume control.
I never use it without the poles for two reasons.
First, I believe the pole extensions tend to provide some improvement to the mid-range sounds. Maybe it's just the way I hear things these days, but it seems to me to be the case.
Secondly, I believe the low frequency sounds seem to transmit throughout the venue better when the woofer is on the floor. Again, these are my observations ONLY.
As Don stated, two definitely sound better than one, but I cannot justify the added burden of hauling two complete systems, setting them up and tearing them down every day of the week. Maybe I'm getting lazy in my declining years. On the other hand, my wife says I'm getting smarter.
Good Luck,
Gary