Greetings fellow Agoners.While I tried to read as many of the responses that I could I'm sure that I missed a few so if anyone else covered this aspect I'm sorry.While it's true that the majority of multi channel studio recordings(SACD,DVD-A) have been mixed inproperly, where multi channel music TRUELY pulls ahead of stereo is in the reproduction of recorded LIVE music.I am a live music fan & the majority(about 70%) of my over 300 Redbook/SACD/DVD-A discs are live recordings.My library also contains at last count 135 concert dvd's.While most of these live recordings where done as stereo recordings, post processing has opened up EVERY one of them to the point where disbelief can be suspended & the ILLUSION of actually being part of the crowd is as easy as closing my eyes.Yes,while a good 2 channel system provides a reasonable renditon of these performances they never provide the truely expansive illusion that the multi channel playback provides.And with almost all concert dvd's being remixed under the close supervision of the original recording artist the studio engineers are finally starting to understand how multi channel should be used to extract direct & indirect information so as to put the viewer in the middle of the concert crowd(& NOT the band).While studio recordings will probably always sound best from a 2 channel system(due to the LIMITED spatial information inherent in the recording process),there is no doubt in my mind what so ever that any recording done live,wheather a live cd recording or concert dvd,can only be appreciated at it's absolute best with a properly matched & set up multi channel system.I guess it all boils down to what what the majority of your listening tastes are.If your a solo listener who locks into a sweet spot for the duration of an intimate recording of a chamber ensemble or jazz singer it's likely that you will never appreciate the true magic of multi channel.If however you are like me, & revel in the live concert,be it the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra recorded live at Daly City Symphony Hall or AC/DC recorded live at Donnington Castle then the future is multi channel & I for one will be there every step of the way!