Walt Disney (the man, not the company) first experimented with surround sound in the 1930s along with Leopold Stokowski, when they were mapping out Fantasia. Unfortunitely for them, the theater owners at the time were not interested in spending money on the needed upgrades.
WHat about four speakers.......
When you are in a concert hall, sound hits you from all sides. Why arent there high end systems with four speakers; the listener would pretty much sit in the center, you get a box to delay the rear speakers ever so slightly to imitate those sound waves taking longer to reach your ears. What are the ups and downs of a second set of speakers behind you, even without any sort of delay? A few of you guys must have tried this, thanks......