This whole argument is about as dumb as trying to compare electic guitars to acoustic guitars. Which one is better? BOTH! 2-channel is great and so is 5.1. It's purely up to the listener as to which one he/she likes. If you want to invest money in 2 channel than so be it, if you feel that surround information adds to the experience than go that route. However, here is the bigger question....which one allows you to do both? Ahhhh, now that's where it gets interesting.

I can play things back in 2 channel and 5.1/6.1, but someone who has a dedicated 2 channel setup...they are not able to go to 5.1 with a flick of a button. So I play stereo when I want the pure 2 channel sound of CD's or even some 2.0 SACDs. I then swith over to 5.1 when playing content with that information on it.

Ok, let's see if this debate still goes on and on........