How can you not have multichannel system

I appreciate Audioholik's excellent research; he found several contributors whose reasons for praising multi-channel sacds were better articulated than mine. All the naysayers keep referring to timbre as the holy grail,or being able to tell instruments apart, but my experience and those of others who directly state, or made reference to, hear the instruments better and thereby easier to distinguish while listening to sacd mc. If done right, sacd multichannel music will best stereo counterparts, every time, hands down. Those who say no have not truly tested that proposition, either listening to the wrong music at the wrong location (i.e., Best Buy), or with the wrong equipment, or refuse to even try it, dismissing it out of hand.

Not to say multi channel cannot or does not sound great or sometimes even better, but for me as a mainly music lover, the marginal benefits do not justify the significantly greater cost and complexity involved in putting together a really top notch multi-channel system.

For me, fewer channels are just more practical to get right and be able to enjoy than more.

Tvad's points factor into my assessment as well.

Agree with Tvad, and with few exceptions even the audiophile press seems disinterested. I can see how a mid-line Blu-Ray or SACD mch system might get broad traction across the HT segment, but that's about it.

"If done right, sacd multichannel music will best stereo counterparts, every time, hands down."

Is it "done right" or is it "every time"? If "done right", then how? Compared to what "counterparts"? What performance level of 2ch at what cost?

The fact is that audiophiles and reviewers expend countless efforts splitting hairs/adjectives when comparing near-SOTA 2ch components. In constrast, advocates of mch offer mostly undifferentiated praise of mch systems at varying performance levels, from mass-market players and receivers on up. There seems to be very little formal vocabulary other than the "blow your socks off" variety. However, this is not to say it's impossible to assemble a great-sounding mch system.

I agree with TVAD and Mapman here. Plus I have never heard a multi-channel system that even approached a quality two way system. TAD gave up some time ago in having multi-channel systems at shows. I know why, the sound was awful. I heard their best sound yet at the RMAF-the rack mounted two ways used in two channel.