5.1 is dead! Long live Stereo!

Scandinavian_Flick · 5 months

I got 2 ears and I got 2 channels.

http://i.imgur.com/nsEZk.jpg

cavortingwebeasties · 5 months

Why do so many people think they are mutually exclusive? You guys do realize you can have your cake AND eat it, right? Just because you have the rest of a 5.1 system strapped to a 2ch stereo does no mean the 2ch stereo portion has to suck, you can use whatever 2ch gear you want for your mains, without compromise... My 2ch system stands up fine on it's own. So does my other 2ch system, my rears. Each channel has it's own sub with active crossovers to achieve proper integration. I run 'phantom center' on my receiver if I'm in 5.1 mode, and have sub set to off (center/sub redirected to mains). I use separate preamps with sources directly hooked to them for front and rear for pure 2ch, and for 5.1 mode I have a processor feeding one of a plethora of inputs on the preamps. My main amps front and rear even have their own inputs so if I want to run really simple I can hook directly to either one and leave everything else off.

I can run it the following ways depending on mood:

2ch lite: integrated stereo amp>speakers, front -or- rear
2ch bi-amp/fullrange: preamp>active x-over>amp>speakers/amp>sub, front -or- rear
5.1: processor>2x(preamp>active x-over>amp>speakers/amp>sub)

current gear:

mains: Jolida 302>Ohm 2XO's/Acurus A250>Hsu TN1220's
rears: Jolida 502>Magnepan MC1/NAD 2400>baby TN's (2/3 scale TN1220's)

preamps: Carver C-1 front, C-2 rear
X-overs: Outlaw ICBM-1 (two units)
processor: Inegra DTR 7.4

OJNeg · 5 months

I think the best argument for running a stereo rig is that all the music in the last half century was recorded and mastered in stereo. Sure, I might be interested if (good) 5.1 recordings became standard, but till then I'll be running two channels.

MinnowWouldBeLost · 5 months

You know, I always wondered why artists never experimented with 5.1+ surround sound music.

Jewishjay · 5 months

Some people will claim that 5.1 "sounds better." However, sound is subjective, so that argument works both ways.

bennjammin · 5 months

I'm very happy with my stereo setup since 99% of the music I own is stereo. I'm sure having more places for the sound to come from would also be amazing with the right music though.

crestonfunk · 2 months

I think originally Decca was using a center channel for "stereo", but while it worked on tape, it was the LP that forced them to go to two channels.

The thing about rear speakers, to me, is that they work at the movie theater because the room is HUGE, but when I go to someone's house and there are speakers three feet behind my head, it's a little weird.

I think the MP3 player has done a lot to kill 5.1, but I think the audio industry didn't help, since so many people were so confused about it.

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