Wanna take it to the next level? Buy MORE speakers!

the Next Level....is....optimizing the media. and if your preferred music was originally mastered to 2 channel, then that is going to be the most truthful way to hear it. the very finest, most developed 2 channel system will take you furthest.

unless your fundamental source recording is multi-channel......surround sound is changing the target. instead of wanting the musical essence of the original performance, your goal is some sort of derivative.

so what music is most important to you? how was it recorded?

turns out Next level, is getting the music right, not bastardizing it. adding more speakers is more for effect, not connection.

i have a separate Trinnov 9.3.6 surround sound Home Theater system. music through it does sound good, and fun, and.......funky. but it’s not in the realm of my 2 channel for true connection. it’s something.......different. YMMV.

@mikelavigne Since you make a reference to the "essence" of the musical performance, visit some grand acoustic space nearby where you live and check out an orchestra, wind ensemble, etc.

For example, there is one near where i live.... Yes of course, the orchestra’s performing in front of me, but, there’s sound coming from behind me, in front of me, above me, to either side, etc...it’s a dome...makes ya wonder how the essence of it can be like that because it doesn’t sound much like stereo at all.

If we are talking about some li’l basement bar with a 7 ft ceiling and some guy screaming into a 100 dollar PA system, that’s a different experience (anything works there, i suppose). I would suggest that you experience a big hall, sit on the money seat and determine how you would recreate an experience closer to it at home. I also understand that you’re an analog enthusiast with high end turntables, etc. So, maybe it wouldn’t work for you because this is part and parcel of the digital domain.

when I am in doubt, I always bring a 100 musician-orchestra into my living room for blind testing. They are imaging almost as well as my Avantgardes.

Since you make a reference to the "essence" of the musical performance, visit some grand acoustic space nearby where you live and check out an orchestra, wind ensemble, etc.

For example, there is one near where i live.... Yes of course, the orchestra’s performing in front of me, but, there’s sound coming from behind me, in front of me, above me, to either side, etc...it’s a dome...makes ya wonder how the essence of it can be like that because it doesn’t sound much like stereo at all.

@deep_333

the whole idea of musical essence relates to rendering the particular acoustic of the recording venue as related by the recording and mastering process. not every recording and mastering process fully relates all that information. but each recording ought to be distinctly different, and the better the reproduction system and the more accurate and complete it is, the closer it can render the original according to the media.

so the idea of rear hall seating, compared to close up, or even rear balcony, should be part of the ambient information on the 2 channel recording......if the system is up to it.

certainly in theory a multi-channel recording can better relate some of this, but it’s typically a fine mess since it’s digital and processed. and it’s rare rare that it’s done right, and that the multi-channel playback is up to the task.

i will easily throw 1000 of my vinyl records at the typical surround sound effort and get more back in musical essence. much more. my source has more meat on the bones with an analog source, and it gets everything dead solid perfect. not a mess.

come on over to my house; i will play a live to 2 track master dub of a live jazz club recording that will recreate the whole envelope of that jazz club leagues better than the best multi-channel recording. you can cut the ambience retrieval with a knife, and the realism of the music is way beyond what any digital can even think of.

which is TRUE Next Level.

note that part of the issue here is that the best music was recorded by the best artists and the best recording engineers with the best simplest tools.....which means the Golden Age 1955-1980. so this great best ever music is all 2 channel. it’s very hard for current artists and recording processes to compete with the purity of those times. almost impossible. and i listen to and enjoy plenty of contemporarily recorded music, so i respect there is lots of good stuff being put out today.....but....it is not up to the standards of the Golden Age even at it's best. 

My $$$ is on @mikelavigne 

“certainly in theory a multi-channel recording can better relate some of this, but it’s typically a fine mess since it’s digital and processed. and it’s rare rare that it’s done right, and that the multi-channel playback is up to the task..”
+1 ​​​​@mikelavigne 

Been there with Krell 707 Multi-channel Processor /Evolution Amps plus B&W 800 series 7.2 System. My current 2-ch system handily smokes that speakers and multi-amp monstrosity.