1st Post Intro & Ramblings

There are so many ways to bring out the best from a system. First consider the outlet in which power conditioners and amps are plugged in directly. I replaced mine w/Leviton MRI82/83's Hospital Grade. What a difference from the $2 Leviton outlets. Dedicated circuit. Use the best conductivity plugs as well. I've found bare wire speaker connections sound the best. (If you're worried about copper corrosion, try silver plated copper. QED Revelation.) Recapped my Arcam Alpha 10 int. amp w/Kendeil. Superb!  It will take a while before all components will blossom w/trial and error. I've finally reached the point in my reference system where I'm satisfied. Took many years! With effort, you can put together a very nice system w/little funds. Every detail matters and hopefully everyone finds "it" at some point. 

A couple of things:
1) quite a few audiophiles have dedicated rooms, most people buying cheap systems don’t, they set them up in living rooms/family rooms that are shared with a tv usually.
2) nobody can correctly setup a room in 10 minutes like millercarbon claims. Millercarbon thinks he’s a gift to us all on knowing everything audio which he is not. The pros take hours and sometimes a couple of days to setup a audiophile system. It’s not just positioning the speakers, it’s room acoustics, listening seat position, and if you get time aligned speakers like Wilson’s, it takes hours just aligning them. If you take millercarbon’s system, it might take only a couple of minutes because you can only get so much out of it3) speaker positioning is an art. There are many recommendations on how to start. You can use the 1/3 or 1/5 start, the Cardas starting location, or Jim Smith’s, all each a little different. Also, these formulas differ depending on the type of speaker you are using. 4) I use Jim Smiths formula for seating distance which isn’t equal to spacing between the speakers
5) most families spend a few thousand on a stereo setup, but the real quality systems cost much more. If you think you can get a top notch system for $2500, save your money and get an apple HomePod. I have 5 systems throughout my house ranging from a HomePod, to wireless peachtree speakers, plus a couple of quality small speakers powered by ps audio sprout 100 integrated amps, but all pale to my much more expensive (50-60x more) dedicated audio system. You can get an enjoyable system for a few thousand $$$$ and I think it’s impressive how some manufactures can build a smaller quality speaker that sounds big, like raidho’s and Wilson’s for example.

Theater sound has not been about creating a larger stereo image since the 70s. Surround sound is about trying to put the viewer into the scene with sounds appearing to come from all around like in real life.

The center channel is not to widen the stereo image it is to lock the position of dialog with wide theater or home seating. It is not a simple left/right summation. For one or two this is why you can eliminate the center and have good results but still need the surround channels for the intended experience.

I agree with most of that. I have noticed many here have dedicated spaces for sound, but that is not very common. In my years buying and selling or for work, a vast majority cannot spend the money you are talking and chances are you will not be calling us for help to install. Budget builds start on websites like this and are very important for business. More and more people listen to crap speakers and more and more music is recorded in the studio and released the same day (sounds like it). I believe we have to get more average blue collar people into enjoying a quality setup or this business will go to catering to just you high dollar customers. Many buy high dollar receivers and 5 years later it’s obsolete, that kills there enjoyment. Bringing the average Joe into this hobby starts with the budget builds. Taking that $5,000 system and turning it into something top notch for pennies on the dollar by shopping here and adding a quality 2 channel amp, cables and at the very least a quality pair of speakers. This is 1st step on a journey. 

I spent a good amount of time researching good components because I wanted it to sound good.  I don't care if it looks good I only want it to sound good. I spent good money got everything home and have good components because good sound comes from good gear.  A good guy once told me that your system is only as good and your weakest link.  That sure was good advice. My room has good space in it and is treated good so in the end my system sounds good.