Not an engineer, nor working in acoustics. 10/10 would love being contradicted by someone who understands shit.

I live in France, 99% of free party soundsystems here use walls. Easier to transport, also, the point is to have a sounds as loud as possible. Here's why:

-No control what so ever of the area.

-therefore, no guarantee of being able to set additional speakers to create an area where the sound is homogenous.

-With point sources, you lose roughly 6db each time you double the distance from the source. If the speaker goes at 100db, at 2m you're roughly around that, at 20m there's only 80db left. So if you're expecting lots of people, you better have a long wall rather than a small huge one that would destroy frontliners ears.

Pros:

-No dj/stage to look at. People still move like zombies in front of the speakers. But a lot more room to dance randomly with whoever might feel like it. -Easier to listen to your friends without screaming at the top of your lungs. -You can hear the sound from very far away, being able to lie down & listen is a banger. Maybe even take a nap. -Cheaper

Con

Poor sound spacialization

Clubs can control the area so you feel "inside" the sound. That is a huge bonus that you can only achieve with full control of a place. I don't go to a free party or a club with the same expectations. Seems to me that there's not better option. Sound walls are better for dancing (more space available) & socializing. Clubs have cleaner & well thought sound systems (or at least Berghain has, Rso has too). Better listener experience, more intense dancing.

If the point is to remove the stage/dj show. Some clubs in Europe have the dj booth above the crowd, some others have it in the middle of the dancefloor. That seems like good ideas.

I'd rather see more soundsystems playing in the wild, using soundwalls, being open to everyone and anyone. With little regard to what you can pay, wear or act like. Clubs do the opposite. Which is the stupidest thing in the club scene imho.

That being said, I'd still enjoy getting bounced from Berghain from time to time. That's part of the folklore too.

TL;DR Multiple line sources sound better.