OK. CEDIA is just a couple of days away, however I already have the answer to what type of speakers for Dolby Atmos speakers from a mono/di/bi/quad pole perspective since that was part of this conversation.
Craig Eggers from Dolby states that monopole (direct) speakers are most desired, and thus the reason manufactures are going that route for their speakers touting the "Atmos" name. With that said, he went on to say that "bi/di pole speakers will work, but the effect will be diminished." When pushed on the subject, he came back with basically "it would be 'less than ideal' to use anything but monopole speakers."
He and Brett Crockett, also from Dolby, kept offering up that the Dolby Atmos system "adapts" and "is scalable" and "works with what tools it is given (referring to speakers and connections)." So when he said "less than ideal" to use anything but direct firing speakers, I took that, based off of his tone, as it isn't a good idea, or better yet, why bother, but didn't want to take away from how "dynamically adaptable" the system is.
What I would love would be a surface mountable direct speaker that can be ceiling mounted. That way I wouldn't have to punch four 8.25" holes in my soundproofed ceiling... On-wall speakers would work if there was a way to "lock" them to the ceiling, but as they currently exist, they use gravity to "hang" on the power bracket, and that isn't designed for ceiling mount.
