Am I "Weird" For Only Wanting 2-Channel (or at most, 2.1)? [Long Musing]

[cornelius]

Nothing wrong with 2 Channel!! A lot of listeners are still getting great results with simple systems, although multi channel has it's merits...

I get EXCELLENT results with my system:
Integrated amp
Floorstanding speakers
Apple MacBook Pro/Airport Express
DVD/CD player
Outboard DAC.
This system is simple, yet versatile: DVD/CD player and Airport Express each feed into the DAC, and the cable box is fed directly into the integrated.

Easy and affordable, yet serious resolution without compromising your music listening. For movies, the only missing component are the rear surrounds. Because of the speakers that I use, I don't need a center channel or sub, so it wouldn't be worth it for me to make the effort to add surrounds.

Visually the system fits easily into the space that my TV occupies, so no hulking components - I actually traded out my old MacIntosh gear for smaller chassis components...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Nothing wrong with 2 Channel!! A lot of listeners are still getting great results with simple systems, although multi channel has it's merits...

I get EXCELLENT results with my system:
Integrated amp
Floorstanding speakers
Apple MacBook Pro/Airport Express
DVD/CD player
Outboard DAC.
This system is simple, yet versatile: DVD/CD player and Airport Express each feed into the DAC, and the cable box is fed directly into the integrated.

Easy and affordable, yet serious resolution without compromising your music listening. For movies, the only missing component are the rear surrounds. Because of the speakers that I use, I don't need a center channel or sub, so it wouldn't be worth it for me to make the effort to add surrounds.

Visually the system fits easily into the space that my TV occupies, so no hulking components - I actually traded out my old MacIntosh gear for smaller chassis components...

Why even bother with an external DAC?

Just get a DVD/CD player with a top quality DAC and then hook directly to the Integrated Amp.

 

[cornelius]

I bought a DAC for a few reasons:

1. As a cheap experiment to see if I could improve my old DVD player.
2. To bypass the Airport Express D/A - I listen to a lot music from
my computer. I toggle btwn optical for computer, and coax for the DVD.
3. I didn't want to invest in an expensive DVD player - If and when it breaks/fails, I can swap another out, and still keep the DAC. Also, I'm not sure what the next big format will be, or when it will become available so I didn't want to invest in something expensive.