Right now I'm using a Denon 3801 Receiver & listen to CD's via my Pioneer PD-59 CD player connected by optic cable in the 5.1 All Natural Stereo Mode which produces music out of all 5 speakers & the sub without reprocessing anything except the center channel which is a mono combination of the left & right channels- this is not prologic sound & I really like the sound. It does not sound as good in this setup if I connect by analog cables & if I play this in a plain direct 2 channel & sub mode on this receiver, I don't like the sound at all.

Do you think that CD's will sound much better played on a 2 channel & sub stereo receiver then on a 5.1 or 7.1 receiver or will there be essentially no difference? If you think a stereo receiver is much better are there any you'd recommend (even if they've been delted from the market)?