Stereo versus surround sound

[stereophonicfan]

Me, personally, I prefer the good old stereo experience for music.

There are actually technical reasons why a stereo-setup is more accurate than a surround system. The bass produced by a subwoofer is the weak bit, I hereby don't mean to completely disband the surround system.
My point: e.g. when listening to a random classical piece (not that I only listen to classical music, I listen to pretty much anything) containing the sound of instruments like cello's, hobo's and other instruments producing sound with double tones (a higher one and a lower one), the lower tone should, when the sound is right in the stereo-image, be heard right (and left when left).
It's the basic assumption that bass-sound is non-directional that bothers me. Yet most surround systems have only on woofer unit, only few have two directional subwoofer-units. Bass-hits are less direction sensitive but sounds from a bass-guitar are.
Again, I don't hate the surround experience, I actually love it. But as most manufacturers think you only need one bassdriver and I'm more a music-type than a movie-type, I chose the stereo-setup.

[Jim Clark]

I listen to pretty much anything) containing the sound of instruments like cello's, hobo's and other instruments

Surround really makes those hobos come to life. Funny typo, thanks. In the US, a hobo is defined as: One who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or a means of livelihood.
I mention it only since you are from Belgium and may not get why it's funny.

Regards,

jc

[piece-it pete]

Well I prefer stereo for music. I've found the various soundfields available do IMO weird things to at least the overall presentation.

But I haven't heard a discrete multi-channel music-only recording on a good quality 5.1 system, either. Perhaps good things are in store for us :). (Of course the manufacturers are going to continue to push/develop 5.1. More amps, more speakers, and maybe, more realistic sound?)

For HT surround rocks!! I don't think anything can replace the point source of the rear channels.

They say any sound below about 80hz is non-directional. It used to be higher (I've seen mention of 120hz). And I'll say if Richard Bassnut Greene believes it it's probably true.

That said :), I'm very stubborn & run stereo subs. My unscientific, totally biased "tests" show (me at least) that the stereo setup has a wider soundstage vs. switching to mono. I think it's possible that we feel the sound as well as actually hear it.

It's also possible I'm kidding myself - and that's no joke.

But it makes me happy.

Pete