2m is far enough away that it is less of a concern.
I bought the 12L's at the beginning of the rage, and still own them. Also, I think your other conclusions aren't off. They do go slightly deeper than, for example, my former nearfield favorites, the Spendor S3/5's. They also go slightly louder -- I wouldn't listen to the Spendors other than nearfield, whereas I will listen to the Quad's elsewhere in the room, although I usually keep it just a tad too soft, as I used their volume controls, rather than a preamp, so I usually just left them alone once I had them balanced.
And yes, their strength is the midrange.
~_________~
Dreamy-eyed frog is dreamy-eyed.
And yes, you will crave a subwoofer for that last octave, but I haven't gotten one yet, and haven't missed it other than on techno and electronica -- I usually just stick with vocal music (Camille, etc.), classical and jazz. Even prog worked out rather well, because the bassist usually wants to be heard, so he has his tone set with a lot of upper frequency information. ("Lead" bass.)