Even though more compact coasters are usually more intense, I think I'd prefer more spread out coasters due to the fact that you can usually do more with them, and they're also intense. Not to mention the fact that usually if you have more space, you can make the coaster higher.
But, it depends on what your idea of spread out is. I mean, I'm thinking something like Mantis would be somewhat spread out, and things like S:RoS and Millennium Force would be very spread out.
Either one can be good. It's hard to choose, but out of my top 4 coasters, 3 are very spread out, so I'm going to go with that.