We also have the sofa practically against the wall and the speakers placed sideways and slightly turned inwards on the same wall next to the sofa - not perfect but a better sound experience than without the speakers

The question was just because there is actually this front speaker mode and someone has tried it out.

I don't think that makes much sense, the spatial sound experience with this system is created by placing the surround speakers at the back. If there is no room for this, I would choose a high-quality soundbar without additional speakers.