George, welcome. That 1-3' "rule of thumb" has little factual basis. With respect to rear-ported speakers such as the Axiom mains it's been said(by Alan among others)that only a few inches are necessary to give the port "breathing room". The port aside, rather than a specific distance from a wall, it's more important to have the distances from the woofer cones to the three nearest room surfaces(usually the two walls and the floor)unequal, so that the reinforcements(and weakenings)of response that occur at certain frequencies and distances don't all "pile up" at one frequency when these distances are identical. If the back of the speaker is a few inches away from the back wall, results should be good if the side wall is say 3' away. A satisfactory positioning can certainly be worked out with a little experimenting.
