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

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.

Carl, my real argument for multi-channel's future dominance is not due to any sonic superiority, but due to market forces. Today the vast bulk of consumers are not buying 2 channel systems, instead they are buying multi-channel. Like it or not, HT is the dominant driver of non-portable audio systems. To your point about CDs, a format that didn't have the data storage capabilities to be multi-channel, why do you think the manufacturers are trying to get us (consumers) to migrate to DVD? Don't fool yourself and think superior sound quality is at the top of their list. It's the multi-channel sound and video capabilities. A few maunfacturers will take the time and effort to design into HT components high quality music-only capabilities. Check out what Meridian is doing. Unfortunately, most in most systems the music will only be an afterthough to the multi-channel video. BTW, whether or not musicians and audio engineers ever make realistic use of multi-channel's capabilities is a whole other question.

Yes the vast bulk of "consumers" are buying HT, but they are not buying high-end HT, they are going to Circuit City and Best Buy. If we are going to include the average consumer in the mix, then 2 channel still wins if we include the consumers who buy Boom Boxes Stereo units which sell in the hundreds of millions world wide.