I just read Andrew Quint's article in The Absolute Sound, Issue 162, with the above title. Quint has hit the nail on the head as far as I'm concerned.

He says, "... I don't think it's the wider and more nuanced dynamics, the truer instrumental and vocal timbres, and the greater detail that high-resolution brings to the table". Well, I agree about that; in fact, whether it's my 60+ year old ears, or my mediocre system, I scarcely hear these advantages versus really good CDs. But multichannel is another matter: hear the advantages are immediate and obvious -- even though I currently have to listen to it on equipment that is a couple of notches down in quality for my stereo setup.

Sorry to draw the analogy from classical music but that is what I mostly listen to. With stereo I feel like I'm listening at the very back of the hall or a doorway; with multichannel I'm transported to a great, 10th row orchestra seat. (At least this is the case with the better recordings.) Let me reemphasize: this is with lesser equipment. Notwithstanding, with large scale orchestral and choral works, I absolutely prefer the multchannel.

Friends, forget vinyl. For that matter, for get tubes, kilobuck cables, and tweaks of minimal, not to say, imaginary benefit. For real improvement look to multichannel.