I agree! I use Denon multichannel Stereo for most of my music playback. With 10 speakers going it's an amazing wall of sound.
As you noted below, personal preference wins the day. For me, all channel stereo is horrible.
I use a pair of VMPS Bookshelf DiPoles as my rear surrounds. They are amazingly efficient and sound warm, full and open. They fill the rear of the room nicely. Either option will work. It's really a personal preference. If you prefer speakers that sound open rather than targeted DiPoles are a wonderful choice. If you just want them for surround sound and not multichannel stereo maybe the directional speaker is a better fit.
Again, personal preference. I’m glad dipoles work for you. In fact lots of people love them. I’m just not one of them! Lol
In older surround formats, I’ll agree. The bi/dipole arrangements can be fine. But Atmos can place discrete objects on XYZ axis so having speakers that can image precisely is extremely beneficial. That’s also what Dolby specifies for the Atmos spec. Sure. You can use bipoles for surrounds, and it can be ok. But unless you’re very close to the speakers, Ime monopoles are better.
FWIW, I’ve heard plenty of monopoles that weren’t confined to the speaker box and sound plenty open. But like you said, it’s about preference.
