Best speakers for near rear wall placement?

I would give the Direct Acoustics "Silent Speaker" a try. It is designed to work near/against a wall. Here's a link to a good positive feedback review:

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue26/direct_acoustics.htm

The company has a generous return policy too, so you can't really go wrong.

Enjoy,

TIC

Limited opitons, so these are just for consideration, not because I necessarily think them "best"; some Linn's and Klipsch.

I think I read that some VMPS speakers can be placed close to a wall.

If your friend doesn't listen at loud levels he might be best served by getting small speakers with a high bass roll off and supplement these with a sub woofer. Not optimum, but it could solve the bass reinforcement most all floor standers will experience when placed near boundries. Is that an option? Does you friend have a budget?

The smaller Totems work okay against a wall - if you can give them even a foot or so they're not bad. Gradient has some that are designed to work well against a wall although I don't think they are small. He could go with some good standmount monitors and a sub.