Desoto,
With a fairly live room (which is what I prefer), my inclination is towards speakers with uniform directivity over as much of the spectrum as is practical. This is because the tonal balance will be dominated by the reverberant energy in the room, and most speakers don't do very well in this area. That being said, if you have a serious acoustic problem in the room even super-narrow pattern speakers won't eliminate it - you'll still need room treatment of some kind. Would a wall tapestry fit in with your decor? How about a throw rug? You only need to treat one of each pair of opposing room surfaces to get rid of slap echo. Do you like plants? Plants can be used as diffusors to prevent strong, distinct early reflections ("specular" reflections) that can be especially detrimental to imaging and/or perceived timbre.
Briefly, there are two general types of radiation patterns that generate a nicely balanced reverberant field. The first type is omnidirectional or quasi-omnidirectional, and includes dipoles and bipoles. The second type is controlled forward-radiating, and includes many coaxials, horn or waveguide speakers, and a few conventional direct radiators. Nearly all of the speakers I sell fall into one of these two general categories. Speakers I don't sell that do a good job in these areas include models by MBL, Shahinian, Wolcott, Mirage, Magnepan, KEF, Pioneer TAD, Tannoy, Classic Audio Reproductions, Edgarhorn, PiSpeakers, SP Technology, and Avalon. I'm sure there are many others that I've overlooked.
Arguments can be made as to whether a wide or narrow pattern works best in a room like yours, but part of it comes down to personal preference. What kind of presentation do you want - more like you're sitting up near the front of the concert hall or jazz club, or more like you're sitting near the middle of the hall or club?
Duke
dealer/manufacturer
