Is the seated-centered solo listening to music a dated tech?

Sometimes I feel constrained by needing to be in the "sweet spot" in my listening chair. For that reason I have considered getting speakers that are more omnidirectional or which present a wall of sound with a much broader listening area (though for optimal results, there is still a sweet spot). These would be my short list:

• Larsen 9 — review: Larsen 9 review / AbSound They excel at being placed right up against the wall, and aren’t really finicky for placement. Excellent bass response and quality.
• Any MBL (this 120 is the "affordable one at ~$20k!) Review: MBL 120 review

I have heard the MBL and the Linkwitz (using similar design) at a show, and they are almost omnidirectional, with proper placement. They sound almost as good from the back as the front, and you can move around in the room a lot and still get a great soundstage and experience. The top-end MBL was just declared the best speaker at any price (in his opinion) by Jonathan Valin at Absolute Sound.

MBL are wonderful sounding I agree with what you say. At my home, I have many loudspeakers but the massive horns with multicells tend to be the best sound anywhere you are they sound great full, detailed, and easy to listen to but massively dynamic like real music is. When on even when you are in another room they have a near-real sound. I had more than one when walking up to my home asking if I had a live band playing. Even one in mono is an amazing thing and bests more costly audiophile small boxes on stand systems. This has made me rethink how audiophiles approach music reproduction after decades of buying some of the best most highly-rated audiophile products.

Have fun with omni loudspeakers, some create a sense of space. But the best sound stage loudspeakers for me have been direct radiators, perhaps that is because that's how recordings are mixed in the studio.  

A lot of studios used multicellular horn systems. I have many pictures of famous artists sitting in front of Altecs etc in the studio. 

I think the crux is that one must strike a balance in technical complexity and the resultant sound. In today’s world that balance… when high performance is desired is two channel. The additional equipment and resultant setup greatly increases the complexity and reduces the sound quality or vastly increases the cost. More channels, more cost at the same quality level.

I remember quadraphonic came and went in a flash.