I'm talking about stereo. Don't care much for mult.ch.
You obviously haven't dealt with what I call the
Mono-Chromatic Boys who believe that only the early mono masters are the true representation of the music before the mid-60's.
And I get it. Most of the bands/artists of that era (Beatles, Stones, etc.) concentrated on selling singles, mono 45rpm discs, not albums. Stereo mixes were an afterthought for the early and few audiophile consumers that existed and more expensive.
George Martin himself has stated in a lot of interviews that John Lennon especially and Paul McCartney would lose interest in the stereo mix after the mono master was completed and he would be left to his own devices to mix it whichever way he pleased. To this day quite a few vinyl record collectors will pay a premium price for those mono album pressings.
Personally I'm in agreement with you, with a preference for 2-chanell stereo. I've A/B'd many songs of the early 60's in both mono/stereo and for me the stereo mixes always sound better.
I have a friend who goes
ga-ga for multi-channel pressings and it just doesn't sound natural to me. Reminds me of the Quadraphonic vinyl craze which fortunately died a natural death in the mid to late 70's for various reasons, with the cost of replacing the equipment (receiver/amps, vinyl cartridge) and adding two more speakers, the most obvious issue.