Honestly, I don’t understand much about anything other than a two speaker traditional stereo setup, other than adding a subwoofer or two, mainly because I never pursued it. Multi-channel, multi-speaker systems were an "effect" in my view, though I’m sure they’ve evolved nicely over the years, but just isn’t something I’ve had much interest in pursuing.
For me one of the most important considerations in my audio system is clarity (or transparency if you prefer). Most of the other audio superlatives fall into place once excellent clarity is achieved, and from my perspective, it’s a key aspect in allowing my system to trick my mind into taking me where I need to go with the music. It’s a very personal thing for all of us, but that’s generally one of the primary goals and the reason we do this at all.
In my view, the act of processing or adding something to the signal to create something in the signal is counterintuitive to the purist root of achieving clarity. The signal is already in the recording and is there to preserve with as little addition or subtraction to the recording as possible. All three of my sons have pretty decent more modern music/HT systems with DSP and other stuff I don’t understand, yet all them sit there with jaws dropped at the clarity and spatial effects I get from a two speaker system. Their systems give them sounds from all kinds of directions, but it lacks the transparency and realism my antiquated system and philosophy seem to achieve.
If there are other ways that someone can achieve their audio nirvana, I’m heavily in favor of. What we need to achieve it, and how we get there is unique for each of us. so whatever it takes for others is A-OK with me.
