For me, my system has to sound good with music first and foremost. With that said, I have been disappointed with pretty much every piece of home theater gear I've owned. I have owned pieces from the likes of Lexicon, Citation, Bryston, Marantz, EAD, and Proceed. I found myself rotating processors and amps about every 3 months because I grew tired of the sound. Just on a side note...the best "compromise" that I found was with a 5.1 upgraded Madrigal/Citation 7.0 THX processor and 7.1 THX amps. They were the most musical of any home-theater gear I tried, but still a fair disappointment in the end.
I agree with most people that have responded- they are two seperate beasts. I ended up going back to nice tube gear, although I do have a nice 32" TV and DVD/DVD-Audio player. My DVD player has an unusually good virtual surround processor. No, it's not as good as a full set-up but I'm more than satisfied since my main interest is music.
I have never cared for multi-channel music. If recorded well, i.e. the surround channels reproducing ambient sound and not distinct kick drums, guitars, and the like coming from behind you, it can sound good. Unfortunately, 90% of the multi channel discs ( both DVD-Audio and SACD) are poorly mixed. Most multi-channel discs drive me crazy with so much information in the rear channels. Call me a purist but this is NOT natural.
So there you have it...my 2 cents worth. Enjoy the music!!
I agree with most people that have responded- they are two seperate beasts. I ended up going back to nice tube gear, although I do have a nice 32" TV and DVD/DVD-Audio player. My DVD player has an unusually good virtual surround processor. No, it's not as good as a full set-up but I'm more than satisfied since my main interest is music.
I have never cared for multi-channel music. If recorded well, i.e. the surround channels reproducing ambient sound and not distinct kick drums, guitars, and the like coming from behind you, it can sound good. Unfortunately, 90% of the multi channel discs ( both DVD-Audio and SACD) are poorly mixed. Most multi-channel discs drive me crazy with so much information in the rear channels. Call me a purist but this is NOT natural.
So there you have it...my 2 cents worth. Enjoy the music!!