I'm not really an audio pro so I can't compare again't top end stuff and I haven't done enough producing to develop "golden ears", so take anything I say with a grain of salt... Or more than a grain, because I do love these iLouds.
But I haven't noticed heaps in the way of directionality from these, certainly not as much as the some others I've used. But I'll bow down to the pro's wisdom if they say they're directional, plus obviously being in the triangle is best for critical listening and full immersion. I purchased the iLouds as multimedia speakers since my rig is set up in the lounge room of my ~800 sq ft apartment and casual listening is nice as I walk around the room or sit back to watch a movie. Plus the few times I cranked up the volume until the light turned red they were almost painfully loud; so they can certainly fill up my little room.
Something I've realized since owning these is the wonders a DSP can do for little speakers. They're all going to be ported at the lower end of size and price, and ports regularly result in boomy speakers, which might be fine for casual electronica but it gets muddy and annoying on other stuff. It's especially bad with rear ports near a wall, but all the low-mid range monitors I've heard have that resonant boom somewhere and the effect changes with volume. But a DSP controller is much more versatile than regular tuning an amp to match drivers/cabinets, and at least with the initial reviews of the iLouds you can see how it redefines what people consider possible with small drivers.
So I've decided small front ported DSP controlled monitors are the way to go. That is unless I need to fill a lot more space (and/or I have a lot more money). I kinda stopped researching when I found mine but if there's other stuff in the same league they're probably awesome also.
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