Directly to the sides? It usually does sound bad because this position is usually too distinctive (this is also why you have a hole on the back). Poor tweeter design will also make everything sound very artificial and harsh. Direct side positions should only be used for dipole/bipole speakers and even then they need to be about 3ft at least higher than the MLP.

The idea surround location for monopole (which are satellites or bookshelves) is about 2ft. behind (or more, depending on the size of the room of course), 20-30 degrees angled. Alternatively, you can just place the surround speakers directly at the back.

For reference, this is my secondary bedroom setup:

[attachmentid=6221033]
So you see, even with a bed right next to my couch, I managed to have a cohesive soundstage just with some logical  adjustments despite the setup not being "correct" or "optimized".
My LR speakers on this may look more toed-in than it seems, but it's just the angle of the picture btw.

30" Sanus NF stands. Its real height is actually 28" though.

Total cost of the setup is around 7.9k.

Yamaha 579 seems tempting considering it's cheaper than 479 for at least tomorrow till Sunday!