Switching from 5.1 N805 to 2.1 N802/803D

[audioqueso]

Anyone ever switch from a full 5.1/7.1 setup down to a 2.1 setup?

I like the setup that I have now.
Nautilus series' 805/HTM-2/SCM-1 and Velodyne sub.
Right now it's matched to a Marantz SR7002.
I do have an Emotiva XPA-5 amp that is not being used at the moment. I am about to purchase a Marantz AV7005 pre-amp, but I'm having second thoughts about it.

Lately, even though I watch movies all the time, I've been contemplating about redoing my system to a simple N802/803D setup. The surround stuff is nice, but sometimes I think I don't really need it and that it would be nice to have a more simple setup. Music would of course benefit from a dedicated 2-channel setup. But I'm wondering if I will be missing out and/or regret it with all the movies, especially blu-rays. Or if I should stay with my 5.1 setup??

Any comments? Past experience? Regrets?

[stuofsci02]

I have also been thinking the same...

A few months ago, I had only my 804s and two 12" subs setup and was watching movies through my Oppo-83SE downmixed to stereo.

It sounded pretty awesome when I sat in the middle.. It definately was not as good when sitting to the side..

[BlueSander]

I switched from a full 5.1 with a pair of 803 front and 805 rear with HTM2 center to 802N front & HTM1 center. I do miss the surround effect a bit but the sound stage you get from 802N is pure amazing.

[jeepers]

I switched in 2 steps; from 5.1 to 3.1 and very recently to a 2.2 setup with a dedicated 2 channel amp. I don't miss the HT experience for a bit. Obviously this is all personal but I am very happy with what I have now.

[audioqueso]

Hmmm... reading around the net, I'm hearing 50% of the people saying they miss the surround, the other 50% of the people say they never look back. What to do.. what to do? lol

I've been watching a few BD's this week, and switching back and forth between 2.1 to 5.1. I know the the 805's are not capable of creating the same kind of soundstage that the 802's can, but still... it's just to get a feel of what it would be like with a 2.1 setup. I get mixed feelings.

[Isaac]

If you are more into hometheater and watch Blu-rays, I would suggest keeping the 5.1 setup.

[BlueSander]

^^^+1. Soundstage wise, 805 won't get you anywhere near 60% of what the 802 capable of. The only time I really missed the surround is when I watch my movies. You just completely loose the feeling of sitting inside the action zone. I don't miss it a bit with music, in fact, I normally turned off surround while listening to music. As of right now, a bigger screen and a larger amp for my 802 will totally solve my problem of not sitting inside the action zone.

[audioqueso]

If you are more into hometheater and watch Blu-rays, I would suggest keeping the 5.1 setup.

Yes, well that's a tricky part.
Yes, I do watch movies a lot (maybe 3 times a week)... but I listen to music everyday.

^^^+1. Soundstage wise, 805 won't get you anywhere near 60% of what the 802 capable of. The only time I really missed the surround is when I watch my movies. You just completely loose the feeling of sitting inside the action zone. I don't miss it a bit with music, in fact, I normally turned off surround while listening to music. As of right now, a bigger screen and a larger amp for my 802 will totally solve my problem of not sitting inside the action zone.

I do have some DVD-Audio discs, but I hardly ever listen to music in anything but 2-channel stereo.
I only use my surrounds for movies.
I think the only time I ever really use any surround format is when I have music on during parties or events. Then I just use a 5-channel stereo mode since all the speakers are pretty identical. So I wouldn't really miss the surrounds for music since I only use my surrounds during movies.

The idea is that if I change my setup, I would lose the Marantz, and buy a nice pre/pro combo along with a high quality DAC for my HTPC (since that's how I listen to all my music). So any movie would be converted from 5.1 to 2.1 via the blu-ray player.

[bigburner]

I do have an Emotiva XPA-5 amp that is not being used at the moment.

How does the XPA-5 sound audioqueso?

Nigel.

[audioqueso]

How does the XPA-5 sound audioqueso?

Nigel.

It's a great amp. I want to use it again but I can't right now (not enough amperage). That's why I want to get the AV7005 now.