I'm not a fan of front wide speakers. What I do know is that in most of the rigs posted here, the fronts are too close together. If you have a large enough room, place to fronts 12 to 14 feet apart. This will get them six to seven feet from the center. This improves the soundstage enormously.
As far as layout, I recommend following Dolby specifications to the letter. I think a 5 or 7,2,4 is optimal, failing that 5 or 7.2.2. Unless you room is very large, I would avoid 7.2.6. I have a fairly large room, a 9 seat theater, and use 7.2.4. I do recommend rear backs if you can swing it.
My results have been excellent following Dolby specs. The Dolby upmixer has been far superior to the others. The Dirac surround system intrigues me, so that may be something for the future. However, with correct specs and calibration, I'm really impressed with the Dolby upmixer.