If you're in this hobby for the music you are not wasting your time. That you even ask the question makes me wonder. I have no doubt that I will be still listening to vinyl years from now not to mention CDs. It's the music that matters for this audiophile. Generally speaking those who are buying surround sound systems are into videos, not music. Unfortunately it is already true that 2-channel is pretty much dead, but I'm guessing there will always be a small group of music lovers who continue to keep it alive, albeit on a small scale. You can expect a lot of the small companies to go out of business in the near future though. Of course the current state of our economy isn't helping matters much. Lot of great deals on Audiogon right now if you've got the cash.
Is 2 channel dead?
I keep reading about SACD and DVD-A and I wonder about the modest 2 channel system I am trying to build. Am I wasting my time? Am I throwing away money on something that won't last past next year? If so, what the heck am I going to do with all these CDs? Will 2 channel and 5,6, and 7.1 exist together?