Could it be more obvious that 5.1 is not the end all?

[jostenmeat]

i agree, im really not overly impressed with 5.1 in the first place over 2 ch, if you have a surround receiver 3ch C/L/R is certainly better then 2ch, because you have no sweetspots but as far as adding tons and tons of extra channels there comes a time when its time to stop, unless you have a dedicated room for you system theres no point in having 11ch sound, and you need a large room to properly image things, ideally u need a sofa or your chairs sitting right in the middle of the room, with equal distance from the left and right walls, and equal distance from the front and back walls, and a large space to fill with sound so that no matter where anyone sits in the seats they get nearly the same imaging.

Well, by far, most music that has been recorded is meant for 2 speakers. As for 3ch, I'm pretty sure there are 3 channel SACDs. As for proper spacing, placements, listener placement, symmetry, you however can say the same things for 2ch I would think.

Ummm, I'm not talking about more speakers per channel; I'm talking about more discrete channels.....

They could make 50 discrete channels and still not improve on the sound at all.

Well, I still remember what FilmMixer said about the Iosono 348.8 or whatever it is. He said that the rainforest demo doesn't just sound like there is rain all around, but that it makes it so it sounds like you can hear the drops hitting your own shoulders. He thinks it's awesomeness, and was looking forward to the chance of mixing a track for it.

"The best listening position is where I sit in a live performance. With IOSONO you can put the entire audience in my lap.“

-Herbie Hancock

Practicality. That's all that really matters in a home theater environment. What is practical? What isn't practical?

This.