Regarding the rear bass port on the HS8's. My speakers do indeed sit about 6" inches from the rear wall, however I have a very thick quilt mounted on the wall that absorbs a lot of the bass. I know it's not a theoretically correct installation, but it does seem to work out nicely, by chance. I'm getting a very rich bass sound which was enhanced by the Aurelex Isolation Pads. So together I'm getting better results than I expected. The HS8's sounds great.
Here's a pic showing the monitor, quilt, Isolation Pads and lava lamp, gotta have a lava lamp.