Allison and Snell - Against the Wall

Vandersteen speakers that have the adjustable bass component, basically the Quatro and up, are all designed to be placed wherever in the room you need them to go. If you want them up against the wall then you can take the bass measurements there and make the appropriate adjustments. 

I think there’s a difference between speakers specifically designed to interface with the walls for broad band dispersion, and those who have limited or tunable bass.

In the former I put the Allisons, Larsens, Klipshhorns and Snell.

The Wilson Tune Tots and Vandersteens and my own LM-1s in the category of limited or tunable bass.

Von Schweikert VR22, VR33 and VR35 were designed to go right up against the wall.  I bought a pair of the VR33 and thought they sucked, big time. Didn’t realize at the time that Greg Weaver must have been shilling for VS. 

NHT made some large floorstanders back in the day that were so deep, you could have the back of them snug against the wall, and the front baffle would still be 3' out in front of it.

Wisdom Audio makes an extensive range of in or on wall speakers using line arrays, planar magnetic drivers, DSP integration.