Is 3 CH with a HT pre/pro better than 2 Channel

3 channel surround ("shallow surround") is great for near-field HT. I fully recommend it for small or shallow rooms, I use it in my bedroom system and it is beautiful for movies with 3 channels of Antique Sound Labs Wave 8 mono tube amps, a Panasonic 22" LCD TV and both my current B&K Ref. 30 processor and the Adcom GTP-600 processor I had been using previous to it. My system is corner-loaded as well, so the Acoustic Energy Aegis One monitors get a nice LF boost. I have them mated to an AE Aegis Center. Power cords to all the amps are all identical - LAT ACII 3'. Nice coherent voice to the overall system.

My older brother is moving into a new apartment, and has a large but shallow living room. I've started him with the Adcom GTP-600 pre/pro and a B&K ST1430 mkII 3-channel amp to power Wharfedale fronts + center. A great and enveloping movie (+ good stereo sound) experience for his situation.

The best thing about 3-channel is, if you change configurations, you can always put your best 2-channel money and effort into your stereo frontend and relegate the 3-channels of amp to powering rears/center.

In the right situatuion (especially a flexible or transitional one), I wholeheartedly recommend the approach for its flexibilty, performance, and future-proofness. Sounds like with your future plans, you could do yourself a favor both now and later by considering this approach like you have.

Yyz:

I think your 3-channel idea will work fine, given the size of your room. You may miss some of the special effects surround stuff, but there are times I think that aspect of HT is quite over-rated.

The sole suggestion I can offer is to get a better pre-pro than the Outlaw, given the quality of the rest of your system. A home theater pre/pro that handles both music and voice accurately adds a lot of enjoyment to the overall experience, so I'd give some additional consideration to getting a pre/pro that is more commensurate with the rest of your system. There are a lot of threads in the A-gon archive about good pre/pros that are reasonably priced (particularly used, such as those made by Rotel, B&K, and Adcom. For a bit more money, you could also get a Bryston SP-1 (now superceded by the SP-1.7), which is an excellent unit that should be available for less than $2k.

Yyz:

I think your 3-channel idea will work fine, given the size of your room. You may miss some of the special effects surround stuff, but there are times I think that aspect of HT is quite over-rated.

The sole suggestion I can offer is to get a better pre-pro than the Outlaw, given the quality of the rest of your system. A home theater pre/pro that handles both music and voice accurately adds a lot of enjoyment to the overall experience, so I'd give some additional consideration to getting a pre/pro that is more commensurate with the rest of your system. There are a lot of threads in the A-gon archive about good pre/pros that are reasonably priced (particularly used), such as those made by Rotel, B&K, and Adcom. For a bit more money, you could get a Bryston SP-1 (now superceded by the SP-1.7), which is an excellent unit that should be available for less than $2k.

If you feel your room is big enough for Revel Salons,
I'm confused as to why you think it is too small for
a 5.1 system. Personally, I think your room is big
enough for a 5.1 system. All your speakers don't have
to be as big as your Salons. It's all a matter of taste,
but I think you might enjoy having a Center speaker to
locate the voices and link them to the actors on screen.
Adding a Sub-woofer is fun for movies and -- hell -- why
not add the rear surrounds? Add the three channel amp
and a surround pre-pro and do 5.1. Keep your two channel amp for the front L & R. Go crazy in that 14 X 16 room!

Yyz:

Quite frankly, put off buying any HT equipment until you move. In the interim, if your DVD player offers virtual 3D surround options (like my SONY 506) experiment with those settings for "center channel like" sound. I have a similar sized room (except for the height); have a 2 channel system, and in nearfield situations, the simulated effect really works out fine. In fact, I prefer it to when I was using a center channel speaker. Regards, Rich