Speakers near walls

[richteer]

Over in the "Pictures of home theatres" thread, there are lots of pics of some great setups, but one question keeps popping into my head over and over: why do so many people put their front speakers so close to the walls (especially the real wall), even if they have towers (which presumably have reasonable bass that doesn't need wall reinforcement)?

Most speakers are designed to work away from walls, so if you want the best sound from your speaker investment, move them into the room by at least 2 or 3 feet. The sound'll clean up nicely, and you'll hear a closer approximation to what's on the sound track.