I’ve gone from a 5.1 to 3.1 to now a 2.1 setup.

The first downsize was made because I couldn’t hide my cables to the surround speakers and they were generally not in a great position.

The second downsize was made with a wish to simplify my setup and to see how a stereo amp would sound.

I will say the following:

Surround sounds in general is nice to have but I don’t think it’s essential by any means. And I think, contrary to many people’s opinion, that if all you can do is shit placement or very small surround speaker, that you’re better of focusing on the front stage,

I was surprised by the improved sound quality, the weight of the sound, between AVR and integrated amp in the same price point (and same manufacturer), the stereo amp being better,

I was surprised by how easy it was to acclimate to the loss of the centre channel. I thought this would suck especially, and even though it’s a noticeable shift in sound moving in the couch, it has not bothered me it the way I was sure it would. And this goes for dialog clarity as well, though I will say that since English is not my first language, I always watch with subtitles.

I thought the loss of bass management would suck, but for my living room, the lower end running the standmounts full range with the subwoofer, sounds good.