With the caveat I've never tried a really bad speaker, I have not found surround speaker quality to be a significant factor in overall sound when listening to music in native or upmixed multichannel, or live sports. (Live sports is the only non-musical A/V content we regularly enjoy that exercises the surrounds.) While using speakers from the same line, or even the same model, is often recommended as "ultimate," I have found no sonic benefit from doing so. The flip side is, a system with disjointed looks may be perceived as sounding disjointed too, and a system that looks impressive will often be perceived to sound impressive! That effect is heightened in a system comprised of freestanding speakers at all positions in an open floor plan room. So it makes sense to use identical or same-line speakers for looks on those grounds.
There are exceptions. For example, if a surround speaker is too close to the listener the sound field can collapse onto the closer speaker. That's when the old fashioned "dipoles" Dr. Toole loathes make practical sense.
The X-factor may be height speakers for immersive setups. While we're not physiologically or psychoacoustically well set up to hear sounds behind us with as much detail and precision as sounds in front of us, current immersive systems include front height speakers. I have not experimented with different quality heights. The selection process for our front and rear heights was 4-pronged with: speakers with
- with built in wall mounting points,
- height less than the wall space between the window casings and crown moldings in front of our living room,
- high quality finish, and
- an even radiation pattern
The pick ended up being Tannoy Revolution XT Mini. But for the requirement 2, the Revel Performa3 bipoles would have been the likely pick. I wanted to try
JBL Control HST, but the wife nixed them on looks. There is also an
Infinity HST version with an ugly vinyl wrap, but often an attractively discounted (US) price.
What's the distinction between "wide defined" (compared to a "normal small speaker," which I interpret to mean a standard flat-waveguide 2-way with dispersion disruption at the crossover) and "accurate polar pattern?"
Can you post polar maps showing examples of each?