Good old 2ch versus multi-ch, what to do?

I have not yet heard a 5 channel SACD demo that sounded like music. Even with extremely high end components in an acoustically treated and properly set up room, it still gave you the impression of "effects" more than experiencing the music. I think it will get better with time, but right now I am not worried about setting up 5.1 in my system.

BTW I also think that a lot of the SACD's that are just remasters of old discs such as the classic rock and jazz from Sony music actually sound no better than redbooks. The biggest difference I hear is in recordings like the new Beck album etc which lose some glare and grain on SACD.

Also I had a Sony 222ES and sold it, terrible sounding on redbooks, so be sure you listen to players closely and find one that will fill both bills. I have heard the new Denon and Yamaha "universals" also and they butcher cd's.

So maybe the answer is not to invest in SACD just yet, but spend the cash on a really fine CDP with upsampling? I did listen to an Ayre CX-7 today and was very impressed. Of course, it was playing through a pair of Avant-Garde Duos, but I think this player would sound fine in most systems. Any thoughts?

Betat only YOU can decide.
These forums are great for advice but they work better for filling in gaps rather than a cast in stone recommendation.
Try to demo a good CD player and SACD player in your system.
For what it's worth I came to the very conclusion you suggest in your last post-buying the very same player you mention.
Using both advice from Audiogon members and home demo's and my own logic I decided against investing further in SACD-I still have a SACD/DVD player in my system.
However there is a pro-SACD group also who haven't replied to this thread.
You might well find the positive things in SACD that I didn't and others do.
A quick search on SACD will show various debates-however sadly Audiogon decide to delete some threads for reasons best known to themselves meaning that you endlessly end up making the same points in an effort to help people.
Freezing threads that have run their course would mean no more input (if they are considered contentious)but having them in the archives would serve many purposes.

You can do some SACD searches here-abouts and get quite the range of opinions. I was talking the other day with a fellow audiophile when I remarked that most of my friends prefer two channel in my home theatre and he said something i need to think about.

"when you have five channel you don't have to turn the volumn up so much...you can still talk and listen at the same time."

Well, it sounded real deep at the time, anyway.

Forget multichannel, if you want the "sound is all arround you" gimmic just pop Roger Waters Amused to Death into a good two channel system and get the multichannel urge out of your system.