Welp.... Stevo's at it again!!!!! This time Surround Sound is dead!!!!

[Feanor]

Bill, I hate to say it again(well maybe no), but this is just another stupid idea that Steve has come up with.
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Film sound is marching forward, and marching forward very quickly. Catch up, or shut up - that is the advice I would give Steven.

Sir T, you explain your position very well but I'm still inclined to agree that a stereo track is desirable for the few who want it.

Personally I have an m/c system and that is what I almost use for movies. It's not up to your, very high, standards but it works pretty well. On the other hand my wife occasionally watches movies in stereo on another system mainly used to watch TV.

This is a point on which you have consistently shown insensitivity. Many people continue to use modest, stereo systems because of cost and/or difficulty placing surround speakers. In an era of stagnating or declining median incomes and the impoverishment of hte working and lower middle classes, the low-end market for all sorts of relatively low end products will grow, not shrink.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Sir T, you explain your position very well but I'm still inclined to agree that a stereo track is desirable for the few who want it.

Bill, we can't put everyone needs on a single disc. Stereo does not work very well with movies, and the market has spoken and does not want stereo. There is no way I would waste a dime adding a format for less than 1% of the market. I would not waste the bandwidth or the storage as well.

Personally I have an m/c system and that is what I almost use for movies. It's not up to your, very high, standards but it works pretty well. On the other hand my wife occasionally watches movies in stereo on another system mainly used to watch TV.

This would point out to me your wife's listening needs are not as critical as yours. This is no reason to include a stereo track on Bluray.

This is a point on which you have consistently shown insensitivity. Many people continue to use modest, stereo systems because of cost and/or difficulty placing surround speakers. In an era of stagnating or declining median incomes and the impoverishment of hte working and lower middle classes, the low-end market for all sorts of relatively low end products will grow, not shrink.

Here is something you continue to miss. The cost of decent performing equipment has dropped very sharply in the last decade. A quality receiver can be had for $1000 dollars, and that was not possible ten years ago. A decent projector can be had for $3000 or less, and that was not possible a decade ago. Thanks to Emotiva, a 5 channel amp can be had for less than a $1000 dollars. That was not possible five years ago. As a matter of fact Emotiva's pre-pro 5 channel amp combo goes for $1099 dollars, and reviews say the combo sets a new performance standard for this price range. Combine that with mid priced speakers, well setup, calibrated and voiced in a room with decent acoustics, and you can do a full 5.1 system for far less than you could a decade ago. Survey's have shown this.

The market for the low end has always been pretty strong. Look at the sales of Vizio televisions. They have always been underperformers when compared to Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic, but that has not prevented them from outselling them all.

[Feanor]

The cost of decent performing equipment has dropped very sharply in the last decade. A quality receiver can be had for $1000 dollars, and that was not possible ten years ago. A decent projector can be had for $3000 or less, and that was not possible a decade ago. Thanks to Emotiva, a 5 channel amp can be had for less than a $1000 dollars. That was not possible five years ago. As a matter of fact Emotiva's pre-pro 5 channel amp combo goes for $1099 dollars, and reviews say the combo sets a new performance standard for this price range. Combine that with mid priced speakers, well setup, calibrated and voiced in a room with decent acoustics, and you can do a full 5.1 system for far less than you could a decade ago. Survey's have shown this.

The market for the low end has always been pretty strong. Look at the sales of Vizio televisions. They have always been underperformers when compared to Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic, but that has not prevented them from outselling them all.

I wish I could afford this sort of equipment !!!! Sure, a buck buys you much more performance than it used to, but you're mistaken if you see the sort equipment above is accessible to the typical low-end consumer. People by Vizio because that's all they can afford. Personally I have to make do with an Onkyo TX-SR508, about C$500, and that only because I chose to spend some of my inheritance from my late mother. A "decent" projector is out of the question for me.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I wish I could afford this sort of equipment !!!! Sure, a buck buys you much more performance than it used to, but you're mistaken if you see the sort equipment above is accessible to the typical low-end consumer. People by Vizio because that's all they can afford. Personally I have to make do with an Onkyo TX-SR508, about C$500, and that only because I chose to spend some of my inheritance from my late mother. A "decent" projector is out of the question for me.

Bill, you have to be smart with your purchases if you are on a budget or limited income. Christmas sales, black friday sales, bogo sales, spring clearances are all ways to get decent equipment for cheap(relative) prices.

Personally, I have never paid retail prices for any of my equipment. I bargain, make deals and agreements, and in some cases have waited for sales. I have even allowed a speaker and amp builder to turn my reference theater into is personal testing lab. In exchange, I get to keep what he builds and installs if I like it. Also, working for a studio, I can get high end used equipment for next to nothing. This is how I got my "so called"(out of ignorance) $85k projector.

Everyone has their priorities based on their income, and I recognize that. However, I have seen people who make very little money pull together a very good, if not excellent system by saving their money, and waiting for sales.