Anyone with a high-end home theater sans sub?

"The people who tend to achieve the best sound are those who have significant experience in high-end two-channel audio."

I wish this were the case, but often the experience rarely transfers. I think a good ear is a good ear though no matter how many channels. But two channel setup dudes never can seem to wrap their mind around 7.1 channels.

"I actually love both, and believe that many who are home theater enthusiasts could benefit from some audiophile experience."

Well an experience with well selected "audiophile" equipment would be more to the point. I once made a horror movie called the "Audiophile Experience". Kind of like Psycho without the shower scene, but there was an incident with record cleaning fluid. ;)

"Audiophiles" are too diverse a creature to define as two channels inability to be satisfying when the signal is represented most accurately leaves the masses to seek religion more than truth because the truth is a bit thin and shallow and downright uninvolving. So now it is audio patch work time with fuzzy tubes, 12" full range speakers and other weird solutions, Dipole, omnipole....anything one can do make it music sound more realistic except real surround sound.

Fear of the Rear channel: Circumauraphobia

Later

Javachip,

No flame here - I promise - just a slight correction in terms. It might actually be more accurate to say that the Meridian DSP speakers maintain a digital signal THROUGH the crossovers, as the crossover is also digital. The D to A convertors are at the end of the signal path immediately preceeding the amplifiers, after all DSP processing (such as volumne, treble, bass, balance, tilt, etc.) and crossovers.

I agree with Flrnlamb,

Johnmcelfresh, you need to do some more research.

Wow. What a thread. My only comment is that when you watch the sound engineers mix the sound tracks- its done channel by channel for the most part. ( Lots of playback and reworking and balancing to be sure). But the information, from an audio standpoint, is crafted for, in most cases but not all, a 5.1 channel balance.

I do think you can have a decent movie audio expereince with high end 2 channel, but the digital 5.1 sound tracks are made to be heard through 5.1 channels. Anyone who is missing out on a quality center channel has missed the boat. trying to do 5.1 through 2 channel means you can never hear how the soundtrack was designed to be heard.

Just like trying to take a good 2 channel recording and play it through a 5 channel stereo option leaves a less than desired result, trying to hear a 5.1 designed soundtrack through a 2 channel set up, while gratifying through high end speakers, falls short of hearing the movie audio experience as it was designed to be heard.

My only other comment is that I really don't personally enjoy the bass reproduction on the Def Tech line of speakers. That's just my opnion.

Bass reproduction is, first and foremost, a function of proper seating and speaker placement. This is at least the equal, likely more important than the actual speaker design, in regards to bass woofer. That's what I find!
I've heard the best speakers and woofers in the world placed where there's absolutely NO bass response to be heard! Basically, the speakers were placed in a huge null!
On the other hand, you can easily place woofers and listening possitions where the sound is so boomy and unatural, that any fidelity potential is a wash!
give me a properly setup speaker system, over all the "potential" in the world, every time! That's just me.
I do think you have much greater flexibility however from a sub/sat system vs. full range speakers in the typical smaller or medium sized domestic home spaces usually involved.
I've personally heard the Def Tech's setup, simply superbly in the past. But I can easily see setting em up "wrong" for ill-results though.