Prime Cuts:Sorry I'm a little confused here,
So basicaly the ideal system is one using the same speakers all round, Say for example the MA BR2's front left, right, centre. rear left, right? I'm not doubting your knowledge David. But why do manufacturers bother putting together packages like the BR2 AV or the BR5 AV, If a more realistic sounding system would be one using all the same speaker?
Basically, there are three types of packages.
[*]Lifestyle AV packages that are made to look nice, usually with fancy shapes and material, relatively small, and usually under £1,000. Most of the time, they incorporate exactly the same speaker all round, giving a very even sounding system as far as matching/panning effects are concerned. These can produce better results than hi-fi speakers because by physical nature they're closer to dedicated movie packages than hi-fi ones are.
[*]Hi-fi AV packages that consist of a pair of hi-fi front speakers, be they standmounts or floorstanders. Added to these are a 'convenient' smaller centre speaker (usually with a smaller cabinet volume and smaller mid/bass drivers), and smaller rear speaker, basically because it's the norm for people to use smaller rear speakers for aesthetic reasons. This also goes beack to the days of Dolby Surround systems, when the rear speakers were of a limited bandwidth, so meaty rear speakers were not required. With the advent of digital surround systems like Dolby Digital and DTS, the rear speaker signals became full range like the front speakers, so larger surround speakers were required. People still stuck to smaller rear speakers and set them to small.
[*]Dedicated AV packages are purely designed for producing movie soundtracks, like the upcoming Ken Kreisel (inventor of the sub/sat system) ones for instance. There's not many around compared to the other two types of packages, mainly because it's a more specialised market. These packages use exactly the same speakers across the front, known as an LCR package. Sometimes they use exactly the same speakers for the rear too, to make sure front to rear panning effects are also consistent. These are usually THX packages, so are classed as 'real' sub/sat systems. These satellite speakers are not full range and will cut off at 80Hz, the frequency chosen by THX as the ideal crossover point between small speakers and subwoofers. Because of this, they concentrate on the frequencies they produce best, without interference from bass energy within the cabinet.
NB. Many hi-fi speaker manufacturers name their centre speakers LCR*** because they can be bought and the left and right can be stood on their ends and used like a normal speaker. This produces the same tonal balance and timbre, as well as power capabilities, resulting in a far more consistent front soundfield. Any left to right panning effects sound the same.
But to answer your question, yes, the ideal system will use exactly the same speaker all round. After all, this is the type of speaker system the film soundtracks were mastered in the first place.