Speakers that work close to the back wall


Hi! I'm trying to help my friend, who is new to audio (so am I), to built a new system. His room is 12x20x8 ft. with hardwood floors. His taste in music is mainly jazz.
The major constraint in terms of speakers placement is the distance to the back wall( he lives in a relatively small high-rise condo). He would prefer to keep it at 2-3 ft. max.
We also decided, that for now he will stay with quality integrated for amplification ( Plinius 9200, maybe new DK amp.) The amp should be SS ( apprehensive of tubes for some reason).
The price for speakers is not a major consideration, he's fairly flexible.
A few choices considered:
Von Schweikert VR-4 JR
Green Mountain Callisto
Totem Forest
I'm not sure wich speaker will work best near the back wall.
Please share your thoughts, every opinion is welcome. Regards.
maril555
Audionote speakers work quite well placed 2-3 feet from the front wall.

I heard, at CES, the Gradient speaker working quite close to the walls of a small hotel room (about 1.5 ft) and they sounded quite good in that location. This is a compact, nice-looking speaker that is almost never seen but deserves more attention.
Anything that is ported in the front would be better suited to being close to the wall (as opposed to a rear ported design). This prevents the bass from becoming overbearing.
Totem Arros : 6" away-from-wall placement and an awesome speaker ( see Totem website for specs and speaker placement FAQs)
Audio Note speakers are designed to go all the way in the corners. All price points of the J and E speakers sound superb.