Embodiments are directed to a speaker system that contains an array of multiple dispersion drivers that creates an expansive acoustic pattern to playback multi-channel audio content through a standalone speaker. The speaker system comprises an interface receiving stereo audio; an upmixer generating surround sound formatted audio from the stereo audio including one or more height channels; a virtualizer/downmixer component coupled to the upmixer and generating speaker feeds for two or more loudspeaker output sections, configured to play back the stereo audio, wherein each output section is further configured to play its own dedicated stereo audio signals; and a set of drivers each coupled to a respective output section and configured to project sound in at least two different dispersion patterns.