surround sound system with two speakers ?


why can't you have a surround system with only two speakers? I thought that you distinguish sound direction by the delay that it takes the sound to reach one ear then the other. if this is true why can't you have a processor that will make this delay between two speakers. If anybody knows anything about this subject let me know, maybe i am wrong but if i'm right why doesn't anyone make this processor.
rowestera9b1
I don't know how a processor could create silent sound waves from speakers in front of you, to travel to where the rear speakers should be then amplify them to audible levels and then reverse the direction of the wave to travel back to the listener. Aren't sound waves somewhat directional? Or maybe I did not understand your question. I heard the new Yamaha single surround speaker thing that is suppose to bounce the rear sounds off walls or something to give the effect but there are quite a few drivers in it. I didn't think it sounded as good as a cheap all in one box 5.1 surround setup. I am no expert by any means. If it could be done it would be pretty amazing, although speaker manufactures probably wouldn't like it much. Let us hear from the experts.

Burton
You can but most movies are recorded in 5.1 mode so when you only have two speakers you will have to buy a processor that would take all those information into your only two speakers. I tried w/ two speakers and trust me you dont want to go there.
There are several consumer based products on the market that do just this. The one that has received teh most favorable reviews is manufactured by Niro
http://www.niro1.com/en/product/niro1_1pro2top.html
Admittingly this single array has several drivers but the concept is similar
Bob Carver did this a decade ago. "Sonic Holigraphy" Very close to a surround sound. I believe a CT23 had it, among others. I remember you have to set it up very cafefully, speakers placement, that is.
Check it out...
to Eldarado, I don't think you understood my question. I understand what your saying about where the sound is coming from but what I am talking about is where the sound is going. No matter how many speakers you have the sound still hits only two ears and your brain processes which direction it came from. so what i was asking is if you can manipulate the sound by adjusting the time that it hits each ear, can you fool your brain in the direction that it came from.
As Hpims says, Bob Carver's "sonic holography" tried to do this. I had it in a Carver preamp. IF you set your speakers up just right, and IF you sat up straight in a hard chair placed in exactly the right spot, and IF you didn't move your head, it worked quite well. Too many "IFs"! I rarely used it. A real sound source in the rear is much better than a simulated one.
How about with one speaker? I heard a demo of the new single Yamaha system, and for home cinema it was great. They had it matched with the Arcam reciever, and a Denon 3910 DVD player. Sound was excellent. Great for movies, not bad at all on music. Pretty cool idea for city dwellers.
Yamaha is selling just one speaker with I dunno how many drivers in it, but it is for surround sound. It is slim and will git on alot of TV's I believe it uses your walls to create the image of surround.....I know...I know, sounds like BOSE technology.