To answer your question:
Without the sub I would just to 2.0. The sub is what makes home theater. With a sub I would take 4.0 over 3.0. For what it is worth I have done 2.0,2.1, 3.1, 5.2, 7.2... back to 2.0, over the years.
Now my current setup is a little different. I run to separate systems in the same room. My 5.1 (Polk RTi A3 x5, 550wi subs x2) is mounted to the ceiling. I used their Key hole mounts and made mounts out of 2X4s/plywood (wireless subs in the back of the room behind the theater chairs). The rest of my room is "optimized" for 2.0 (currently thiel CS2.4 etc) music. Each system has its own electronics and they do not intermix.
My own thoughts:
To me the most important thing is keeping all the speakers the same. I don't mean the same brand or line I mean the same speaker. Now if you have a big budget you can put two systems in the same room and make the surround sound almost unnoticeable .
Use 5 Thiel Power point speakers and a JL Audio in-wall sub. It would make a very nice looking and sounding system that could be in the same room as your two channel room.
Just a thought.
Without the sub I would just to 2.0. The sub is what makes home theater. With a sub I would take 4.0 over 3.0. For what it is worth I have done 2.0,2.1, 3.1, 5.2, 7.2... back to 2.0, over the years.
Now my current setup is a little different. I run to separate systems in the same room. My 5.1 (Polk RTi A3 x5, 550wi subs x2) is mounted to the ceiling. I used their Key hole mounts and made mounts out of 2X4s/plywood (wireless subs in the back of the room behind the theater chairs). The rest of my room is "optimized" for 2.0 (currently thiel CS2.4 etc) music. Each system has its own electronics and they do not intermix.
My own thoughts:
To me the most important thing is keeping all the speakers the same. I don't mean the same brand or line I mean the same speaker. Now if you have a big budget you can put two systems in the same room and make the surround sound almost unnoticeable .
Use 5 Thiel Power point speakers and a JL Audio in-wall sub. It would make a very nice looking and sounding system that could be in the same room as your two channel room.
Just a thought.