[Prof.]

BleedingStar wrote:

The surround sound is definitely the biggest point of interest that I am curious about.... I could take me rear surrounds all the way to the back of the room and give them a bit of volume, and then the could actually be facing the center of the room a bit closer together, but they would be fairly far back.

That would probably be a better arrangement, providing you can balance the levels between sides and backs..And considering that there isn't a lot of back surround effects anyway..

I understand that having one wall along one side, and no wall along another can cause a bit of of unbalance. however in my current setup the left side only has a half wall bar, and I can really sense any difference.

I noticed in your present set up that both surrounds are getting some re-enforcement from the walls..and this where you may have a problem in the new set up..only one surround will have wall re-enforcement..
It may not be too bad, but you won't know until you try it..
If it does turn out that there is a noticeable inbalance between the surrounds, try laying them down on the floor, with the speakers facing up wards and moving them closer to the sides of the seating and see if that improves the balance..
I'm not suggesting that you leave them like that, just as tryout..

How much of a difference does it really make to have a back wall or higher ceilings? Will the main problem be echoing and sound direction confusion?

Most probably..