I follow the ambiophonics philoshopy that two channel stereo with multiple speakers is all that is needed to reproduce realism in playback. Although I don't follow the prescribed setup that they mention, I think that I experience similar results with my unconventional side speaker setup. The imaging may not be pinpoint but I get a full 180 degree sound spectrum with no apparent seems. This effect can't be acheived with just two speakers. I'm using 9 speaker plus a sub and if I had additional space behind my listening position I would add 3 more speakers for a 360 degree soundfield.