A single really good sound system is close enough. An approximation of all the references, if you will.
Or two or three....
I think there is room for 2-3 approximations:
1) Harman curve; downward slope with wide dispersion
- suitable for home theater and stereo *if* there was gear to do it
- proven to be the most preferred to most people
- best single system, suitable for home theater environments
- Revel Salon2, Genelec monitors, Kef Reference, etc.
2) Flat curve +/- narrow dispersion
- in an acoustically dead room, a flat sounding speaker will sound thin. But this preference is one of the preferences noted by Floyd Toole in his book, albeit a small preference among studio engineers in the studio, which did not appear to translate into the home environment.
- suitable for individual listeners
- headphones for some people, JBL Array 1400, etc.
The dispersion may not be as different as the Harman downward curve vs. Flat curve. EQ/Room correction systems that allow multiple profiles allow listeners to switch between a "House curve" and a "flat curve."
3) Expansive and Diffuse
- dinner/cocktail party, tea reception where listeners will be dispersed randomly throughout a room
- a live string quartet or jazz band typically will energize the room broadly
- omnipolar MBL, dipoles like Steinway Lyngdorf, Magnepan, Martin Logan electrostat hybirds, Canon wide-imaging-stereo, JBL Paragon
- some people claim that cheap Sonos or Amazon speaker will do, but that's not necessarily true.
https://www.technologydesigner.com/2019/09/05/entertaining-with-sound/