Distance from the front not the rear wall?

Shadorne, I doubt anyone is disagreeing with what you've posted. I think that the use of specific absorbing room treatment can go a long way in adapting to the situation.

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I disagree with your conclusions completely.

As do many others, including the late John Dunlavy.
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BE FREE FELLOW FREQUENCY FREAKS: It's personal...My speakers are on either side of a "fake" fireplace about a foot and a half from the back wall and 6 inches from the "fireplace" walls..with a powered sub stuck in behind the left speaker. The sweet spot is on a couch 3 feet from the back wall (to enjoy that along with me you need to sit in my lap or on my shoulders...creepy but true). Done. I used to move the speakers into the room for "serious" listening but stopped because they sound GREAT where they are...go figure. Floor rug, other comfy chairs...sloping high ceiling...and since I'm a pro musician/sound technician (live shows mostly), my ego would never allow me to pay attention to so-called "formulas" for speaker placement any more than I would entertain suggestions on how much to salt my food or sweeten my coffee. I actually like the "tone" of my room and listen to a very wide range of music...and it all sounds different, very different, and my system puts a stable soundstage right in front of me. Did you know that sound level CHANGES percieved frequencies due to comb filtering and phase anomalies? So unless you listen to everything at exactly the same level your room treatments might be futile unless you live in an empty concrete box. And do you know what a "dead" room sounds like? I do...it sounds terrible (unnatural). Hense the word "dead". Here's another one: I replaced my speaker spikes with Vibrapods for a large improvement in everything (my hair even got thicker)...and from what I've recently read you can see THAT tweek train coming with suspended speakers (new Sonus for example) being the New Black. Who knew?

The front wall is the wall thats in front of you when your in the sweet spot . I thought Stereophile put that matter to rest years ago .

I think that the use of specific absorbing room treatment can go a long way in adapting to the situation.

Absolutely.

I have seen research that suggests you need to get the reflections 21 db below the primary signal to make them inaudible (according to lab tests rather than theory).

Diffusion behind the listener might be the most effective. If the listening position is anywhere near a corner then corner bass traps would also help.