Cross the cables for a longer arc and a deeper lat stretch.
Let the lats do the work and avoid shrugging your shoulders up at the top.
Crossing the cables overhead flips the pulldown's geometry, each handle now travels down and out across your body, tracing a longer arc that matches the fan shape of your lat fibres far better than a straight bar. The crossed start position also drops you into a deeper overhead stretch, and your biceps assist the pull as always. It earns its place when regular pulldowns have gone stale and you want a stretch-loaded lat movement with a wider finish.
Crossing them lengthens the arc and lets you pull down and away in the direction your lat fibres actually run. You get a deeper stretch at the top and a harder contraction at the bottom than parallel handles give you.
Either works, kneeling centres you between the stacks and is the easy default, sitting tall on a bench does the same if kneeling is uncomfortable. Just keep your chest up and resist getting dragged forward into a slouch.
The stretch position invites it. Let your arms lengthen fully, then set your shoulder blades down a touch before you pull, if you can't stop the shrug, the stack is set too heavy.
