I think listening too close is not good for sound quality. For example here is a page by Genelec about sitting too close to their speakers harming sound quality:
https://www.genelec.com/correct-monitors
There they even give estimates based on specific models, with larger models needing you to sit further away from the different drivers so the sound is more coherent. Neumann has minimum listening distance recommendations for their speakers and they increase as their speakers get larger.
I bring this up because I sit very close to my speakers currently out of nessesity. 19-20in away. The LS50 Metas don't go as loud in the bass but I'm already sitting so close. The R3 have better preference score but it's for far field. I wonder if at such short listening differences the LS50 Meta can eek out an advantage, especially since I'm comparing R3 to a speaker where the tweeter and the normal driver are at the same spot.
Also, page 9 of the R3 manual states the minimum recommended distance of the R3 from the wall is 9 inches. I can do like 3 inches away, that's it.