mono blocks for home theater?

Nope, nope, nope...to an extent, that is.
I could see the very best mono's giving some advantage POTENTIALLY in refinement of sound, all things equal. But considering bass managment, powered subs, more efficiency in amp/speaker combo do to bass managment, the only real areas of practical improvment for you money would be in overall sonic purity and such indeed...all things equal, again. Still, that said, we're talkign movies here! I have yet to hear any movie that has the refinement of a good music recording! Movies are mixed, and mixed, and processed, and scored, and over-dubbed, and voiced over, etc, etc! yes, they sound plenty detailed often, dynamic for sure, pretty clear mostly, with cool effects, stearing, and soundstage potentially. But, refinement is not the case, and things are generally more synthetic and manufactured! You consider the unavoidable "boxy dialoge" that is in the mix, faux effects, re-dubbs, edits, etc, and you just aren't getting some magical depth and refinement taht can be pinched out with the finnest music production/recordings!
I've beeen around high end audio for 20 years plus, worked in 6 audio stores as sales/install/custom, and been and avid 2 channel and HT junkie in as much. I have yet to hear some system on "mono's" that I thought was "the end all" for HT! Infact, I think certain much more important considerations are more pressing than finding the baddest amps you can to dive your home audio system...better speaker chioces for one. It's all good though.
I'm just saying that hearing large massive JM Grand Utopias, and Wilson SLAMMs and such on mono's wasn't any better than a well thought out high end system with multi's or stereo amps in general!
I think money's better spent delegated elsewere for most. Still, whatever floats your boat.

I recently acquired two Theta Enterprise monoblocks to power my Thiel CS3.6's, and a Theta Intrepid for the center and surrounds (still trying to decide if I'll use the extra 2 channels for zone 2, or move from 5.1 to 7.1). My reasoning for this approach is that I do my critical listening in 2-channel, and I want my soundstage and imaging to be as good as they can be, so monoblocks do deliver in these regards. I had considered either a 5-channel Dreadnaught II for the whole deal, or a 2-channel Dread for the mains, but once I heard my Thiels with the Enterprises, I was hooked. The multi-channel Thetas still had the "Theta sound", and were very balanced and nice sounding, but the imaging, detail, separation, and depth of soundstage couldn't match the monoblocks. That said, I find that when I listen to multi-channel music or movies, much of the refinement of the monoblocks is not as evident. If I were going to do multi-channel only, I probably would have gone with one or two Dreads, or a Dreadnaught/Intrepid. However, I do feel that monoblocks can interface well with a system that pulls duty as both a 2-channel and a HT setup.

Tom.

There's one point that everybody has been forgetting, or they're unaware-of, so far...
There is another advantage to using monobloc amplifiers, if they are located appropriately. With a multi-channel amp, some people are running long lengths of speaker cable, perhaps of questionable quality, to save money. Long runs of speaker cable result in signal loss, vulnerability to RF interference and compromised sound. It's better to run a long SHIELDED interconnect to an amp located right beside the speaker, and a short high quality speaker cable to the speaker.
Of course, this kind of set-up is not for everybody, but there are definite advantages!

I am in the process of asking the same question right now. Should I mono block everything, or just the front three, and stereo the surrounds? I am just in the begining stages of this adventure. I am looking at getting an eVo6,a 6 channel amp, and mono blocking the front 3 channels (350wpc) with it. Then I can run another eV02 in stereo or run a eVo4, and mono the surrounds to have 350 wpc through out my 5.1 system. Just trying to get the best 2 channel/HT system I can get. I also looked at Classe, but it would take 3 amps instead of 2, and wpc would be different into each speaker if that makes any difference, I don't know, but it should be fun finding out. Love this stuff :)

i have just this setup. three large mono blocks up front and one stereo amp for the rear. i use a very large full range center channel speaker, which is a basic assumption for such an amplifier setup. balanced cables from source to amps. 1.5 meter speaker cables. many dedicated circuits, including one for each amp.

this systems doubles as my critical listening system, so at least two of those big mono blocks are "justfied". having a full range center channel with some current behind it, makes a big difference for dialogue and everything else that gets mixed into the center channel. i think i "wasted" some money with the quality of amplification and full range (22-20KHz) speakers for the rear channels, given the lack of information typically present.

true full range speakers (18-20kHz) sound way way better than subwoofers, but again it's a cost/size/performance/cost/cost trade-off thing.

i do not listen to multi-channel music, with the exception of some Meridian trifield occasionally. the pre/pro is piped through a high quality 2 channel analog pre-amp for L/R front channels. the pre/pro directly drives center/LR/RR via balanced.

i have yet to hear any HT system, anywhere, even come close. it does make a big difference, and it does require a room big enough to hold all this stuff, HVAC, and people too.

was it worth the expense?????
that's a very personal qualatative question.