Seems like a good idea to me - say your listening space doesn't allow you to place the rear/surround speakers a decent distance away, the polar pattern placing the lobes 90 degrees directly off axis from the listener seems perfect for giving one a vague sense of sounds coming from somewhere behind/to the side without annoying pinpoint localization of the source right at the speaker?
The (now classic) mid-tweet-mid format had its origins with the D'Appolito speaker arrangement which improved dispersion and created a pseudo line source with a vertical array of drivers. People who never understood what the hell was going on with the things "intuitively" "knew" that you get better dispersion by placing the thing horizontally. Thus ruining the dispersion which isn't all that great in that plane and launching a thousand really mediocre center channels.
The only way I've read you can make curved sides is to put several thin layers together and glue them together in a mold. But, I don't even know how they made the mold. ha
That's how I'm using them. They do a pretty good job.
Try the scene in the Dark Knight where they're in the police van, and a machine gun rakes across it: pans right around the surround speakers.
The surround speakers are pretty much next to the sofa, one driver firing toward the sofa, one forwards. There's a decent impression of the gunfire passing around you: even if there is still a gap between each surround channel, it's far better than just a single one.
Chris
Joe popularized the format, but it was not the origin. I built an MTM TL that predates his paper by 8 years and a number of my clients built MTMs with Kef B200/T27, B110/T27 when i was selling those kits in the late 70s, and i doubt i was the 1st.
dave
The only way I've read you can make curved sides is to put several thin layers together and glue them together in a mold. But, I don't even know how they made the mold. ha
I would certainly like to know what technique was used. There are various, including the thin layers. Wood can also be steamed or submersed in water, then given the shape and let dry.
If you are going to cover it with upholstery or leather, the curved cabinets can easily be made with foam core - which is especially adept at forming smooth curved surfaces. Once covered you would not know the difference except for weight. I contend that the foam will sound just as good as wood.
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