Surround music ?

That's why I listen to music, including SACD, in two-channel. For me, surround is only for movies. I like to hear the singer's voice "imaged" between my two front speakers -- I don't want to hear it coming from
a center speaker -- ruins the effect. And, lord help me -- I don't want
to feel like I am sitting IN the band, I want them on a soundstage in front of me. But -- hey -- that's just me. I used pro-logic2 for music a few times when I bought my surround processor and haven't used it for music again since.

A little research on your part before you buy will go a long way. Many multichannel disc's are recorded with just the right amount of signal in the surround channels..If I were you, these are the ones I would buy.

Dave

Sogood51...Right on.

I would only add that the "right amount" of signal depends on the music in question, and the intended perspective of the listener. People who actually play in a musical groop may very logically prefer to be in the midst of the sound, not at a distance. I am told that some DVD-A discs actually permit you to select the "perspective" that you prefer.

There is a category of music, "Antiphonal" which REQUIRES that sound come from all directions. That is the way the muscians are located in a live performance.

Finally, IMHO, a solo singer is the best reason to have a center speaker. The soloist is a single sound source, and should logically be reproduced by a single sound source. The ability of a good set of stereo speakers to image a mono signal in space between them is amazing. But it is an illusion, easily broken by moving away from the "sweet spot".

When listening to a solo instrument, eg: a piano, I sometimes do the playback mono through one speaker. This replaces the recorded hall ambience with the character of my own room, as if my piano were being played.

Rsbeck: knee-jerk reaction. Sogood and Eldartford: right on. I score it 1-2 for mc. Adding my voice, that is a 1-3. Where does it say that reproduced music should come from two speakers, playing two channels at the front of the room? That record producers don't have a deft touch is another issue.