Long Live 2 Channel audio......???

While I too would have agreed that multi-channel audio is only for home theater, this is changing. With modern delivery devices such as DVD-A, we are not constrained to the assumption that our only choice is a 5.1 configuration. At the 109th AES convention (Los Angeles September 22-25) we were able to demonstrate a 6.0 (X-Y-Z) configuration that in everyway left the listener with the impression that simple stereo is no longer good enough. I would urge anyone that is interested in the pursuit of a more realistic listening experience to not out of hand discount multi-channel audio. A follow-up report will be available on the Muse Electronics website next week (www.museelectronics.com). The future of high resolution is coming; don't discount it without giving it a listen first. Kevin Halverson

Let me put it this way Kevin. HT or multi channel,what ever one chooses to call it,will not only have to be better than 2 channel,but vastly better in every shape,form,and fashion. Those of us who were around in the mid 70s when the first attempt at multichannel came on,kow first hand of that disaster. Basically Columbia & RCA couldnt agree of decoding to we had SQ4 and CD4. Coupled to that the absolutely horrid products in the market place. I recently auditioned a high end HT unit. Well no sale here the dynamics were extreme and exagerrated,not even close to what music is suppose to sound like.For movies it might be acceptable,though I would not buy it for that use.Having been in ths hobby since 1957 Ive seen damn near ever fad come and go,but 2 channel.I do not forsee the time when 2 channel will not be viable. Just my opinion.

why does imaging and soundstage improve when you close your eyes? could it be that speakers and audio racks don't give you the visual clues that are as much a part of live music as the audio? sure the engineers measure reflected sound, but unless its the antiphonal trumpets from the choir loft in handel's messiah, you're looking front at the orchestra or group. and your speakers are reflecting off the walls just as the live performers are, albeit with a vastly different delay due to room vs. hall size which effects timbre and pitch. now, if the surround folks could come up with that simulation as well as the visual,holograms, maybe?, then surround for music listening might make sense. let me know when the holo-suite is on line, commander laforge.

i don't know *anything* about surround for home theatre - movies don't interest me, so it's not an issue. but, i feel i have the best of both worlds regarding 2-channel & surround-sound for audio. i have a jvc xpa-1010 surround-sound processor, that's fed from a 2nd main out from my preamp, which means it's *completely* out of the loop when not used, & when it *is* used, the two main channels are not mucked-up by it in any way. this is a very nice unit that has 20 mapped venues which have been installed into it (theatres, churchas, clubs, concert halls, etc). the mapping was very well-done, taking the response from the four *corners* of the venue, from the listening position, and basically only that signal is what gets played back thru the 4 channels. there are a multitude of adjustments for room-size, delay, reverb, etc. when used correctly, it can add an amazing sense of being at a venue, w/o overpowering the two main channels or mucking up the main signal - ewe don't even realize it's on, until ewe turn it off. this was a class-a s'phile rated product when in production; their take on it was that it was sonically far superior to anything similar offered, including lexicon, yamaha, etc. i, for one, don't know why this technology didn't prosper - two-channel software is all that's needed, & it doesn't do unrealistic sonic-mess spectaculars that so much typical 4-channel commercial crap does, which is why i think mamy audiophiles have rejected conventional surround-sound. doug

I recently auditioned an amp that took out (DC) one of my speakers. Living in New Zealand means terrible repair services and so I had a long period where one of my systems had just one speaker. I found that concentrating on the music was much less necessary for musical enjoyment, and that I was in fact a far more relaxed listener. Then I realise that the interest in the stereo gave way to musical enjoyment. I went back to stereo when the other speaker arrived back. But I can't help thinking that multi-channel is a trade-off, between spatial reality and musical sound. By "musical sound", I guess I mean my ear-brain did not have to work so hard with a single sound source and so there was much less in the way between me and what the artist had to say.