[Steven Sullivan]

These are all very true but the primary reason is the lack of a
suitable population of buyers with five or seven ears.

The fact that we have two ears does not mean that two *playback*
channels are optimum (except for headphones). That's because
the playback 'system' isn't just the listener and the loudspeakers
speakers...it includes a *space*.

Multichannel can produce a *more* realistic reproduction of
a live event than even the best two-channel system. This was
recognized even in the earliest days of sound reproduction,
when three-channel playback was found to be better than
two-channel.

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-S
"As human beings, we understand the world through simile, analogy,
metaphor, narrative and, sometimes, claymation." - B. Mason