Vandersteen Quatros or B&W 803D's

Look at the Vandersteen website where the complete manual for the Quatro is located. These speakers require every bit as much setup as any Vandersteen speaker and do benefit from being away from the wall. Imaging and depth will suffer being too close. You need to follow the setup instructions as close as possible. If you don't, you will never hear what these speakers are capable of.
My Vandersteen's are 52" out from the rear wall. As you move them closer the bass will become somewhat diffuse and ill-defined. The controls on the back are for frequency deviations in the room (room effects) and will not adjust out boom and other near wall problems totally. However, as I said, the bass is not the only thing that suffers in too close to the wall locations.
I've listened to the 803D speakers numerous times and chose the Vandersteen's. The B&W are excellent speakers and I can certainly see them not being close to the wall. I did not really care for their sound honestly (personal preference.) I just thought the Vandersteen's threw a bigger sonic picture that seemed ( for the lack of a better term) more accurate in their portrayal of the sonic picture. Too me, B&W has always had a certain sound that is pretty consistent across their line. I use to call it the Kevlar sound but I'm not really sure what it was. The Vandy just sounds more natural to my ears (when it is setup right.) Otherwise, it will sound very average.

Mrjstark, I think you are right that most speakers do benefit from some space, but my experience with VS, and it seems Bigtree's message supports the same view with Quattros, is that VS really does need the space. Given that, I have loved my VSs that I have own, and have always preferred them to the B&Ws I have heard, but that is totally a personal thing and there certainly are folk who own and love B&W. Ken, how close to the rear wall do they have to be?

The Quatro's active bass adjustment capability will most certainly allow them to sound better near boundaries than speakers which lack those adjustments. With the sub level, Q, and EQ controls, you can accomplish quite a bit. Lower Q settings near boundaries load the room nicely.

We have set up Quatros near the back wall with excellent results.

That's fine and I agree with you to a point, but I don't think it addresses the issue of the midrange and soundstaging sounding best with space behind the speaker. In fact, I would venture that part of Richard's design with the Qs and 5s was to be able to place the speaker out in the room for best midrange performance, while being able to contour the bass to the room where corner placment would ordinarily be best for room loading and smooth bass balance. I don't think back wall placment is a bass problem so much with the speaker, you are right, the EQ does help to address that issue, but I still think being out in the room is optimal for the overall sound and balance of the speaker. Best thing is to go to a dealer, place the speakers near the back wall, then try a setup with the speakers out in the room; if you can't hear a difference, or you can live with the difference you do hear, then you know what to do.

I think the Quatro is by far one of the best values in audio period. My father has the Wood Quatro and even with his financial ability and the upgrade for free program Richard offers he feels no need to go with the 5A.
The BW model can ben very bright and forward, where the Quatro is very smooth and somewhat warm, lastly given the bass adjustment the Quatro offers it is almost a no brainer, these speakers have bass slam that excells over even some much higher priced Wilson models.