Has anyone abandoned stereo for atmos for music?

I have a dedicated 2 channel and a dedicated 5.1.4 setup and purchased my first SACD surround when DSOTM came out to sell multichannel surround mixes.  As should be expected, the experience is entirely based on the source material and the setup.

Not all sources are created equal which carries over from the world of 2 channel music.  The great is great and the mediocre is mediocre.  Steven Wilson produces amazing multichannel surround music and some of the Dolby Atmos mixes are good as well when it comes to surrounding you with the mix.

The second item is setup.  My Dolby Atmos speakers are in the ceiling, which is the recommended and preferred location for spatial audio.  So I get "true" overhead sound compared to the setups where the sound is reflected off the ceiling and back to the listener.

I'm excited about spatial audio but horses for courses as the saying goes.  Some music lends itself well to more than 2 channel reproduction and other music does not.

Op,

👍

@plain_fan  yes. Many technologies have come and gone. Almost all classical and all pop and bits and pieces of other back catalog have been re constructed in atmos. And I’m saying this is what most people think hi-fi should sound like! I am amazed they can put Danny Richmond in 3 of my speakers in the recent redo of miles Nefertiti. Indeed it’s never heard it that way because of stupid stereo mixes. It’s now antiquated. You’ve heard this and think it’s not a game changer? I just heard a 100k system play an atmos track in stereo. Ok. In my cheap atmos, spectacular.  I’ve spent thousands of hours in this hobby. Why? Because getting a lifelike performance from stereo is hard. Now it’s not, because of technology. We don’t spend hundreds of hours talking about tv because the tech has leveled up to where it doesn’t matter. I think this will do the same for audio.