How can you not have multichannel system

In the world of hi-fi, stereo is considered the basic sound setup, and from there up, it is multichannel. As a rough analogy, when the automobile was invented it was first referred to as a horseless carriage, in deference to the then basic form of transportation, the obvious horse-drawn carriage. Now, the automobile is the base form of transportation, and succeeding forms of transportation are the airplane, spaceship and the like. No one makes reference to horse-drawn carriages although they exist (see Amish communities) as no one truly uses monophonic hi-fi systems. Hence, stereophonic is not multichannel.

Tvad, you are correct and I am not advocating shoe horning multichannel system into spatially restricted rooms.

Sorry Usblues for boring you with subjects discussed in the past, but maybe buried under hundreds of succeeding threads. Other readers, however, were interested enough to post their thoughts. Maybe next time I'll start a thread debating the sound quality of blu-ray music discs.
Didn't mean to sound arrogant, but always liked Reggie Jackson's comment about being the straw that stirred the drink.

Mig007...Interestingly, when you close your eyes, a well set up nearfield multichannel system can transform a tiny room into a huge hall.