2.1 to 5.2 (Vandersteen 2C)

A "soundbar" can be 3 channels (L/C/R), but in many cases it is actually only 2 channels (L/R).  They are generally very cheap speakers and very small in a tiny plastic cabinet, usually around 3" to 4" drivers.  You can get more expensive sound bars in the $1200-1500 range, but they are not going to match the quality of even budget level Elac separate speakers.

Also, the most important thing to me is having the same speaker voicing for the C that you won't get if you step away from the brand you use for L and R 2 channel.

I found a Vandersteen Center Channel and sub on Craigslist. It’s not that hard to do. For sides, I just used an old pair of Athenas. Since that system wasn’t 4K, I also found a nice Rotel surround sound processor to pair with a Cary Audio amplifier. Sounds fantastic. 

@intermediatic Thanks!

I did hit the button on a VCC-5 last week, and also a pair of VSMs.
I’ll likely resock the VSMs as it is likely to be the only way to get a WAF score high enough to get them into the room that they need to end up in.

And it is a similar story for the VCC-5. I’ll likely put it into a cabinet/table to hold the TV and the electronics.
Shipping is time consuming, but it has started. The VCC might be here by XMAS/Chanukah/Quanza.

And the TV is sounding fantastic on 2.1 at the moment.

You know how much I love my two channel for tv in my room. Lol