Siting rear ported standmount speakers

When I bought my Monitor GR10s, they were just slotted into roughly the same positions as the old front ported bass reflex speakers they replaced i.e close to a rear wall. In fact, due to the rather bright presentation of the system as a whole, rear wall bass reinforcement seemed like a necessity. However, in the last issue of affordable audio the reviewer of some rear ported Aperion standmounts suggested best results were to be obtained > 40 inches from a rear wall.

I did some experiments at the weekend and although no ideal solution was to be found, I was able to get significant improvements in image depth when they speakers were well clear of walls - albeit with the speakers seeming a bit more 'point sourc-ey'. Part of the effect was definitely due to less rear wall = less bass = subjectively lower volume = turn it up = fuller sound but I' d be interested to know how others have fared with designs of this type - I think Tenson owned a set of GR10s at one point, so any comments...?