No, two channel is not dead. The audio market surely has indeed evolved no question. It’s a lot more difficult these days to find a local (or not so local for that matter) haven to listen to music with components you want to audition in your system for potential purchase. Those days are long gone. One is left to their own devices (research, occasional trips to shows, fellow audio enthusiasts, etc). Too much trial and error.
I wound up building a separate two channel audio only system AFTER I finished putting together a multi channel system I could live with. I found it very difficult to get a multi channel system that was as enjoyable as a good two channel setup. It’s certainly achievable, but costly. In order to get the multi channel system where it was “good enough” to play both two channel and multi channel, had to get separates for preamp/processor and four separate amplifiers. Now, with the right source media, multi channel can provide a most enjoyable listening experience. For the rest of the media out there, two channel stereo is the “way to go”.
Most of my friends are into music, but not into the audio technology. For many, the Bose surround system or a decent surround bar provides them with all the enjoyment they need for music and movies. Many will tell me that their hearing is just not good enough to justify spending extra money on better equipment. We (audio enthusiasts) really are a very small segment of the audio industry.
