5.1 or stereo? What do you prefer?

[Firth]

One point I will make in favor of many 5.1 recordings is the fact that, regardless of whether you have heard them on a "good" system, you have to make sure you are not listening to them through a "movie" setting on your receiver. Movie settings generally place much greater emphasis on the center channel for dialogue. An overemphasized channel in 5.1 music can definitely sound "off". The other thing I have noticed is that some folks tend to turn their rear channels up too high. This can definitely make some 5.1 mixes sound unnatural and gimmicky.
A third factor, and most important to my ears, is bass management. I have tried using both the digital subwoofer output, or setting the speaker settings to no subwoofer and wiring the front through my subs to handle all of the low end. I find the second setup provides more consistent satisfaction in terms of low frequency output.

If your receiver is capable only doing Dolby pro-logic (I or II) which has a music and movie setting, forget about buying surround discs, but yes if it's a TV program, then set it to Dolby pro-logic/music. Note if you put all of the bass thru the fronts and the subwoofer, the fronts are being unduly stressed on the lows.

[Sordel]

Again: YOU find it jarring, I find it exhilarating and breathing new life to records that I heard to death.

Yes, me too, which is why I buy all these things in 5.1 and listen to them in 5.1 (in many cases often). Doesn't change the fact that once you've been exhilarated you have a choice as to which you prefer. And unless I want to sit bolt upright with a neck brace on, ultimately I will probably opt for stereo as the better listening experience.

[Skullhead]

I wish everything I owned was in surround sound! It's like being 'inside' the band - sitting in the ensemble instead of sitting in the audience.

Hopefully this is one good reason why one would want to start or play in a band. For THAT Experience.
I also WISH I played twelve string and bass pedals in Genesis... but I don't.

Other than my band I will be in the audience right were I should be.

Music should be presented in stereo because we are stereo creatures with two ears.

As a listener I would much rather be in the audience getting the proper mix, even for my own band.

[Rand Kelly]

When I see someone say: "5.1 or surround sound isn't natural" I always get a chuckle from it. Your ears hear in surround sound everyday. Blind people understand this. When they are at an intersection they are listening to the traffic and the people on the sidewalk. They hear in front of them,to the side of them and to the rear of them. We who have our sight take all that for granted and really don't think about it because we rely more on our sight than our hearing. Close your eyes. Now raise your hand out in front of your head and as far to the right as you can go out from your ear. Now snap your fingers and slowly pan left until you are in front of your left ear. That's stereo. Now start in the center with your arm fully extended in front of you,start snapping and make a circle the best you can in a 360* motion counterclockwise. That is surround sound,as natural as can be.So, 5.1 is actually more natural than stereo or mono.

[strawberrybrick]

If your auditory system prefers to hear music the same way, then why go to concerts? Granted that there are people that can't handle music presented in a different format, however that's not necessarily a good thing.

Well, it's a completely different experience, isn't it? Different energy....

[Sordel]

When I see someone say: "5.1 or surround sound isn't natural" I always get a chuckle from it. Your ears hear in surround sound everyday.

There could be an "uncanny valley" effect though. It may bother some people that they can hear something that sounds like music all around them but it doesn't sound like they are actually surrounded with music ... that might actually be more disconcerting to them, more "artificial sounding" than a stereo image which they are accustomed to hearing at the regular vector of music. (Just a guess.)

The other thing, of course, is that people who accuse SW's surround mixes of being artificial are also objecting to a supposed sterility due to taking analogue originals and replacing them with digital remixes. That is actually nothing to do with objections to surround sound per se but people do fall into the habit of conflating two discussions.

[zombywoof]

Hopefully this is one good reason why one would want to start or play in a band. For THAT Experience.

Unfortunately I don't play in King Crimson and never will. I AM a musician, but I prefer listening to music over playing music. I'm just kind of weird that way.

[Jubal]

If your receiver is capable only doing Dolby pro-logic (I or II) which has a music and movie setting, forget about buying surround discs, but yes if it's a TV program, then set it to Dolby pro-logic/music. Note if you put all of the bass thru the fronts and the subwoofer, the fronts are being unduly stressed on the lows.

Agreed. I run the front channels to the subwoofers first. The filters on the subs prevent the front towers from having to play the low end.

[Firth]

Agreed. I run the front channels to the subwoofers first. The filters on the subs prevent the front towers from having to play the low end.

Don't you have Polk LSI 25 towers.

[Jubal]

I WISH I had LSIs. I have Polk Monitor 70s. They put out a fair amount of bass, but not really enough living room. I use a pair PSW-505s (12" 300 watts) for the low end. They have a variable filter, which I usually keep somewhere between 105 and 120 Hz. The monitor 70s deliver very nice low mid and up.

[Firth]

I WISH I had LSIs. I have Polk Monitor 70s. They put out a fair amount of bass, but not really enough living room. I use a pair PSW-505s (12" 300 watts) for the low end. They have a variable filter, which I usually keep somewhere between 105 and 120 Hz. The monitor 70s deliver very nice low mid and up.

I have the LSI25s and there is a low pass filter on the subwoofer, but this filter has only an effect on the powered subwoofer. So if I sent the full range to both the fronts and the subwoofer, I would be driving the fronts with the full low end spectrum. That where the receiver comes in to provide the appropriate crossover with the subwoofer filter turned off, and the fronts set on small. Also I set center and rears on small too. All bass is handled by the 2 subwoofers.