Vandersteen Quatros or B&W 803D's

That's true. But the issue is the same with the 5As which I am familiar with, so it is not too far of a stretch to think the Quattros are not a radical departure for Richard - not impossible I grant you. Which is of course why I qualified my statement by saying "if they are like..." That being said, I would always go to a dealer and audition with my own ears before I take any advice given; assuming there is a dealer in my area - of course, that is not true form most gear I'm interested in.

All true, but wouldn't you agree that some distance from rear wall could be beneficial to vest majority of speakers on the market today? There are speakers that are a little more flexible when it comes to "in room placement" then the others......and IMHO I thing Quatros are one of those speakers. A better bass responce and balance will benefit the overall tonality from top to bottom of the fraquency range & reflect on the overall performance of the speakers.

About B&W - there are simply not my cup of tea.
But I can see how one could choose B&W for his/her system.

M.Stark

Ken I cannot comment on the placement of the Quatros.

What I can tell you is I was impressed with the Quatros matched with Ayre CD, Power, and Preamp components that presented a incredible soundstage with depth and imaging.

I've had B&W 803Ds recently and can tell you they do not like being placed close to any walls; the three bass drivers need a lot of space.

Look at the Vandersteen website where the complete manual for the Quatro is located. These speakers require every bit as much setup as any Vandersteen speaker and do benefit from being away from the wall. Imaging and depth will suffer being too close. You need to follow the setup instructions as close as possible. If you don't, you will never hear what these speakers are capable of.
My Vandersteen's are 52" out from the rear wall. As you move them closer the bass will become somewhat diffuse and ill-defined. The controls on the back are for frequency deviations in the room (room effects) and will not adjust out boom and other near wall problems totally. However, as I said, the bass is not the only thing that suffers in too close to the wall locations.
I've listened to the 803D speakers numerous times and chose the Vandersteen's. The B&W are excellent speakers and I can certainly see them not being close to the wall. I did not really care for their sound honestly (personal preference.) I just thought the Vandersteen's threw a bigger sonic picture that seemed ( for the lack of a better term) more accurate in their portrayal of the sonic picture. Too me, B&W has always had a certain sound that is pretty consistent across their line. I use to call it the Kevlar sound but I'm not really sure what it was. The Vandy just sounds more natural to my ears (when it is setup right.) Otherwise, it will sound very average.