Hey all. New member here...

I have always enjoyed music, much more so in the past, but I contine to do so. I bought a set of Vandersteen 2ce's when they were first released back in 1991. Hooked up to my vintage Carver amp, it made for respectable sound. I still have the stuff, it has served me so well all these years. Here we are, 2005, and the wife has finally had enough with my big, ugly-*&^ speakers. She wants to remodel and cannot stand floor standing loudspeakers for purely asthetic reasons. She wants me to cave and allow her to do something different. We are looking at an HDTV (probably a DLP) so it is time for a change.

Personally, I much prefer two channels. I like clarity and depth. I like to hear the instruments and the recording, even with heavy rock. Honestly, I hate movie soundtracks. the engineering is all punch and seems overdone. There is no depth at all, all I hear is 50 different tracks laid on top of each other. Digital surround destroys realism. Maybe I have odd ears, but that is the way I hear it.

The wife's friends all have surround sound systems, with satellites or even built-ins. She feels my Vandersteens are an albatross around her stylistic neck. I hate tell her that those surround systems sound like crap. Not that is matters, she could care less how they sound.

Is there a happy medium? A satellite system or something that sounds more like a Vandersteen (or others of the ilk?) yet fits modern asthetics? $1200.00 or so. Let's hear some names. Man, I hate to dump one set of $1200.00 speakers for another set of $1200.00 speakers just for the looks. That makes a lot of sense. I don't see how a satellite is going to deliver the image and phase in the mid-low spectrum that I am used to. Every time I turn them on, am I going to be ill? ???. What are my options? Is the situation hopeless, a two channel guy stuck in a Dolby 5.1 world?

I could easily add a three channel amp, a center speaker, and two rears for home theater, to go with the new TV.

Recommendations?

Thanks,

jocko