2.0 home theatre, good idea?

[Hyfi]

my buddy is looking for a ~$50k setup for movies/music, about 50% each, a pair of MBL or B&W 800D is at the top of his list, but how well would 2.0 work for movies? will he be feeling like he's missing a center channel/sub/rears? or will high end speakers "make up the difference"

i'm helping him buy components, am i thinking about this correctly? cd/dvd transport -> pre/pro -> amp -> speakers

or should i go transport -> dac -> pre -> amp -> speakers

any recommendations for a high end audio & video transport?

Is he spending 50k just to pay 50k or does he just want to put something nice together?
I'd be willing to bet he could spend $35k and have a system that sounds every bit as good as a $50k system if put together properly.

Does he expect to hear the center/sub/rears out of the mains? If yes to this one, then NO, he won't be happy. Why doesn't he want to get a $47k system and spend 3k for center/sub/rears so he won't be missing anything. Even the cheapest of HT setups provide way more enjoyment of movies than 2 mains will ever do no matter how much they cost.

[pixelthis]

Two channel would be great for two channel audio(stereo).
For HT forget it.
THE POSITIVELY worst system for HT is Bose of any sort, especially their
set for 999 that has two sats and a "bass module", and relies on tricks to create the illusion of surround sound. As bad as that is, as far as HT goes it would be better than trying
it in two channel.
I went two channel for years, because I had an audiophile grade two channel system.
But I sadly gave that up for HT. Unless its for the bedroom or den or something, you need at least 5.1 channels. SIMPLY NO COMPARISON.

[bobsticks]

This is a matter of expectations.

Two hi-grade speakers may or not do a great many things better than a good deal of their competition if fed the stuff from downstream. What they will never do is replicate the sound of six speakers or accurately reform or rearticulate a signal intended for a multi-channel system.

There are ways to integrate an excellent two-channel system into multi-channel system and, with a $50k budget, it can be done very well. The particular speakers listed may not lend themselves to this project but it can be done.

More questions must be asked...

What kind of music does your friend listen to a majority of the time?
Does $50k include video?
What's the size of the room?
What percentage of movies to music will the system be expected to accomodate?