In reply to:

Also note that unless the identical speakers have fully-adequate bass, the problems of bass management to subwoofers which complicate DVD-A and SACD play at this time would arise.



Just to echo this, unless the surrounds in an HT system can be crossed as the same as the mains, you would experience a "bass hole". So if multi-channel is of importance, this is something to definitely consider when choosing the speakers.