Stereo vs. Surround Sound

[Seth=L]

How many of you stick with Stereo rigs even for watching movies/music?

How many of you think that Surround Sound is the only way to view movies/music?

How do you prefer to listen to two channel Music formats?

Consider CD's, SACD's, DVD-Audio, LP, DVD Video, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, and all other formats that come to mind because there are to darn many to list.

I am interested in perspectives on stereo seperates to full blown Home Theater Multi-Channel systems.

 

[3x10^8]

By stereo rigs, do you mean using TV speakers or a receiver with stereo speakers?

For me, the obvious answer is a 5.1 system for all television viewing.

 

[markw]

Generally, I prefer to enjoy the source in the number of channels in which it was recorded.

I like my two channel music in two channel stereo. I prefer movies in whichever mode it was recorded in, be it 5.1. 2.1 or even 1.0. The decoder in my HT receiver in the living room handles that for me.

Note that this post refers to movies only. For the normal day-to day television programs, I don't bother with either. I use the TV speakers.

Now, in the man cave/office/gym in the cellar it's a different story. I run an ancient Marantz 2270, a pair of JBL L-26's and a host of modern sources (DVD, CD, VHA-Hi Fi nd a cassette deck) with a 27" Toshiba on the side.

Now, this makes a grand meeting place for the guys when we all get together and I make no apologies when putting on a DVD and having the sound in 2.0,which is all that poor old dinosaur is capable of. We pour the Cardinal Mendoza and enjoy whatever is on the screen.

IOW, movies still sound PFG in two channel but, given my druthers, I'd prefer a decent full MC system.

But, given the choice between a good two channel system or one of these $68 Coby HTIB systems from WalFart, I'll go for the good two channel any day.

 

[JVC]

I much prefer 5.1 surround to stereo, for everything........movies and music.
In movies, I like hearing a car coming up behind me, and then pass me. Airplanes, spaceships, etc. also. In Dragonheart, I really enjoyed hearing the dragon fly around the room! Impossible with stereo. My normal, day to day tv watching, is in pro logic.

With my music, I like being engulfed with it. I like my dvd-a, sacd, and dts music discs. My regular stereo discs get played in pro logic. I may never listen to two channel again........

 

[Rob Babcock]

MC for me, in every case where it's possible/practical.

 

[skizzerflake]

How many of you stick with Stereo rigs even for watching movies?

Stereo is good for stereo recordings but 5.1 is a no-contest for movies. I seem to have mixed results with simulated 5.1 on stereo recordings. Some work well, some are awful. There's a big however, though, which is that I love good vinyl stereo recordings played through an all analog stereo system. It's amazing how good some very old vinyl recordings are and it's a travesty to run that glorious analog stereo sound through a bunch of chips. I also have reservations about many TV shows in surround. Frequently the rear channels are distorted and volume levels vary widely between channels and programs on the same channel.

How many of you think that Surround Sound is the only way to view movies?

Oh yeah...and SACD and DVD Audio.

I just want some opinions on what you prefer and why.

I think the technology is great, but I'm afraid that 5.1 music is not doing well commercially. I also think that engineers havn't gotten the right idea of recording 5.1 audio. I have heard too many 5.1s where the sound stage put the listener in the middle of a bunch of musicians in front and behind. This just doesn't make much sense as a listening experience. I hope the SACD and DVD audio media survive long enough for recording engineers to figure out how to use them.

 

[Seth=L]

I will doctor up my first post.

I used to have a 6.1 multi-channel system based around an Onkyo TX-DS787 receiver which had 7.1 pre-outs that I had connected to a Carver AV-505 5 channel amplifier. I have since taken the surround sound down and am now using a stereo rig with the same amp, but now I have a Rotel Stereo Preamplifier. I have my front speakers Bi-amped. My current speakers are Infinity Interlude 10's, I have the serious itch to upgrade the speakers with no funds to support it.

My intensions are to upgrade my fronts, fix my M&K MX-100, get a nice pre-pro and a center channel. I loved multichannel when I had it so I do want it back. My priorities lie with music, mostly 2 channel, so that is why I shifted to a two channel system with better stereo components.

 

[Sheep]

Music: Stereo. Don't listen to many multichannel disks, and even then, the surrounds are usually the crowd cheering.

Movies: DD EX or DTS:ES descrete/matrix 6.1. I have 6.1 and I am going to use it.

For TV it's always stereo.

Never listen to radio.

That pretty much covers it.

SheepStar

 

[Seth=L]

Never listen to radio.

Me neither, I cannot stand radio, not even XM or Sirus. I don't watch network TV anymore either.

 

[Hi Ho]

I watch TV and movies in surround. Movies in Dolby Digital or DTS, TV in ProLogic II. There's no other way to watch them.

Music is a two channel affair. I play music the way it was recorded.

 

[GlocksRock]

For tv I use Pro Logic IIx, for Movies it's DTS-ES or DD EX, always.

 

[ggunnell]

An enveloping sound field is very seductive!

The simplest way to add this to 2ch stereo requires only one small additional speaker and was popularized by Dynaco: One center rear speaker connected between the hot leeads of the left and right channels, thus producing the difference signal between left and right channels.

In the days of SQ encoding of four channel we had recordings that sounded stunningly good.

As several have said, it's all in how the recording was done. Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill sounds much better through headphones -- one can guess that's how it was mixed.

 

[highfihoney]

With my primary rig i listen/watch all formats in quad with a combined l&r signal running my center,in the tube rig its strictly two channel,i never developed a taste for any of the surround formats.

 

[Geno]

I listen to everything in multichannel now. Stereo, to me, is just too "flat" once you've heard a good, properly calibrated surround system.

 

[Kamui]

For me, everything is in DTS-ES. As I can't settle for less anymore.

Everything from all the way back to my Nintendo Entertainment System, to my PSP, to radio.

**With the obvious exception of DVD-A and SACD and movies encoded with "at least" DD5.1**

I input everything I have into my X-Plosion (soon to be X-Meridian) and playback through optical to HT setup.

I had severe doubts about using a 3.5mm headphone jack for an input, but these sound cards do not fail me. The "fidelity" of these input sources don't feel lossy, instead they appear to gain a lot of quality.

The thought of utilizing a 3.5mm headphone jack and converting and amplifing it through a 7.1 setup sounds ghastly on paper. It's not something I personally know how to quantify. But I do know I've still to be dissapointed!

**No professional, just my two cents **

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I listen to CD's through analog inputs of the Denon 2910. Analog to me sounds better than digital. So I can say 2channel. I usually try both, but I find analog sounds better with my player as it's DAC's are awesome.

 

[Seth=L]

I was trying to convince someone earlier that they needn't worry about hooking up a CD player to a digital receiver. I figure a CD player has DAC's enhanced to perform well with CD's and a receiver handles Surround Sound very well, and not so much CD's. Unless of coarse the CD player is very outdated and it has a digital out, then by all means use the digital out.

 

[Nick250]

I usually try to use the whatever component has the latest DACs, but I do not really notice a difference. Perhaps DACs are mature technology without much upside beyond the basic ones. I guess my post is more of a question than an answer.

Nick

 

[JoeE SP9]

The source material determines the type of playback I use. 2 channel stereo recordings are played back through standard 2 channel (there is no 2.1) stereo. Spreading standard stereo through multichannel's doesn't work for me. Just about all TV broadcasts are at least stereo. They all decode quite nicely using Dolby Pro Logic. For multichannel sources (CD/DVD/DVR/Cable/Sat) I use the number of channels they were mastered and mixed for.

 

[Seth=L]

Correct, there is no 2.1. That is just an easy way of saying "I listen to 2 channels sources with 2 speakers and a sub, even though there is no discrete LFE channel". Isn't it easy to say "I listen two 2 channel in 2.1", I think that is why people say that, it is easy. Man I am winded.