Long Live 2 Channel audio......???

I think for folks who are serious movie buffs, 5 or even 6 channels do make watching the more recently made movies a more enjoyable experience. However, for those of us who are die-hard classical music fans, the program materials just are not there. I just may convert my system in the living room (the secondary system) to HT just to make my wife happy. But that system will never be my best system. By the way, I have four stereo systems at my house.

Over the next 5 to 10 years multi-channel will replace stereo as the dominate home sound format. However, stereo will not die out, but not because of a vocal audiophile minority, but due to its continued dominance in car and headphone arena. In much the same way the pop/rock music in stereo is mixed to maintain mono compatibility, future multi-channel sound will have stereo compatibility. While stereo can provide a reasonable fascimilie of a concert performance, multi-channel sound can provide even greater realism. It's important when discussing this topic to differentiate between multi-channel music and HT movie sound. Most future systems will by optimized for HT. My comments about greater realism apply to those multi-channel systems optimized for music.

Right now I believe that 2 Channel is experiencing a rebirth of sorts. Certainley it has never caught on with the true audiophiles,and for good reason.Even the best of multi channel sounds absolutely horrid.Way to much exageration on all ends of the audio spectrum. And lets be further candid,the audiophile and music lover that go to live concerts,know what instruments sound like.And to further illustrate the point we sit in front of the musicians or orchestras and the sound is left to right or right to left and center. Not from the sides the back and what have you,as in HT or multi channel. As for me 2 channel is the only serious consideration for music.

Unless you are hearing an outdoor concert, the majority of sound reaching you is reflected. It's in the reproduction of the reflections comprising room sound where multi-channel has the potential to better stereo. Will this potential be realized? Your guess is as good as mine, but the potential is there.

Onhwy, I disagree, multichannel will never replace 2 channel as the dominant music format IMO. It already would have in the 70's with Quadrophonic if it were going to, but it didn't. The CD format would have been 4 channel if multichannel would have been a big seller then, but it wasn't. 2 channel recordings can have ample out of phase information, so long as there are only 2 or 3 microphones, IMO. You and J Gordon Holt are characters...keep up the fight for multi. Most of the pop mixed stuff is just "look at me, I'm over here...now I'm behind you", etc.