What is the opposite of near field listening?

Hey 25 years ago I thought you had to set mikes in front of your speakers to record to cassette or reel to reel. Then again, a guy wrote and ask me last night what kind or tube/mike/preamp he might use to record his guitar amp to digital, which is the only way to get a certain sound.
Anyhow, its not a bad question, I bet a lot of people read it and wondered a little themsleves, just did not want to admit it.

NEAR FIELD LISTENING
In speaker/listener positioning, an equilateral triangle arrangement that equals listener-to-speaker distance with speaker-to-speaker distance and optimally subtracts room interaction from the playback event. The near-field position is often the only workable solution if a long-wall arrangement in a rectangular room is mandatory due to practical considerations. In other words, you are pretty much right on top of the loudspeaker because there is not enough room. Some of the speakers designed for this(and there are a lot of exceptions)have a hump, especially in the mids, so that one might more easily hear any recording mistakes. So if you have a small room, you might like a near
field monitor.

FAR FIELD LISTENING: In speaker/listener positioning, an arrangement whereby the listener-speaker distance is significantly larger than the speaker-to-speaker distance. Far-field listening often occurs when speakers are placed on the short wall of a rectangular room.
The opposite is near-field listening which often is the only workable solution when a system is placed on the long wall of a rectangular room. Certain multi-driver full-range speakers work better in far-field positions where the increased distance allows the physically widespread drivers on the speaker baffle to converge at the listener’s ears for proper integration.

And I bet some of you thought I wasn't that smart. Definitions are borrowed from the good folks at Goodsound, but most of your good recording engineers could have told you the same thing, only with a little dramatic interpretation.

Paulwp, I disagree, very few times is recorded music as good as live, no matter where you are sitting. You can call it sound, performance, ambiance, feel, whatever, but at a good live performance, the room, the performance and the experience is the "sweet spot".

Subaruguru, you been going to way too many of those high priced concerts. Come to Nashville on some Sunday night, we will go to The Stagecoach Inn and hear 20 or 30 of the best"hillbilly classical", "bluejazz", and "bluegrass" music there is. All within 10 feet of you. And if you can spend all that time and money for your reference system, you need to buy a subscription to the local symphony and get better seats. just saw Mark O'Connor and YoYo Ma, bout 18 rows back, wasn't to bad. Live up north, go to the Berkshires Summer Series at Tanglewood, minimal costs and great music. I know what you mean by the expense, but there are ways around it. I will even go to a Catholic church during the holidays to hear the Messiah and I am Jewish, but it is the wonderful experience of live music that no system can or will replace.

Will someday take you up on your offer, be careful, wouldn't mined hanging out in Brookline a day or two., would you believe I also used to live in the Berkshires and in Taunton and Natick? I do miss the audio stores, and really a lot of the live music in the coffee houses and smaller venues. Great part of the world, were it not for MY screwing up a great relationship, I'd still be there. Thats another story as well.
Anyhow go down to the Backstage and listen to some acoustic music in that small venue, Saw Ginger Baker there, Incredible performance.