On the off chance you have over $20,000 to spend on an Immersive Audio Processor, a unit such as the Trinnov Altitude32 is capable of identifying several Surround speakers individually according to the Dolby Atmos Home Theater Installation Guidelines: http://is.gd/wwjMeZ
In such a setup, the Surround speakers go at 90 degrees directly to the left and right of the primary seating position. Then the Surround 1 and Surround 2 speakers go 15 degrees in front of and behind the Surround speakers, respectively. In other words, the Surround 1 speakers would be at +/- 75 degrees, and the Surround 2 speakers would be at +/- 105 degrees.
You can expand even further by adding Rear Surround, Rear Surround 1, and Rear Surround 2 speakers. Rear Surround 1 go at 120 degrees, Rear Surrounds at 135 degrees, and Rear Surround 2 at 150 degrees.
But outside of a crazy expensive unit like the Trinnov, you're "stuck" with just the regular Surround and Surround Back (aka Rear Surround) positions. As was stated in the article, you could use a Y-splitter from the Surround channel pre-out to feed a separate amplifier channel for each physical speaker. Those speakers would then play in unison - just like the traditional Surround arrays in a movie theater.
- Rob H. - AV Rant Podcast Co-host