MartinW:

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned here is that when you select the SPEAKER 4 option, the processor in the TV (BeoVision range I am sure of, not sure on other models) actually plays the music in what B&O describe as 'Enhanced Stereo' mode.

I can't explain in detail what the processing does, but if you change between SPEAKER 2 and SPEAKER 4 you will hear the enhanced bass etc as well as the rear speakers coming on.

Martin

If the recording was made for two speakers, then it should be played on two speakers.

Think of it this way, if a film producer shot a film for the old 'square' TVs (4:3) you wouldn't cut the tops and bottoms of to make it fit a widescreen display (16:9). You'd be losing a lot of the picture.

In the same way with audio, if you play music through four speakers, you're basically destroying what a lot of audio engineers and producers spend a lot of time over, soundstage (making the instruments appear to be in front of you, positioned differently).

I'm sorry Alex, but I disagree.
Ok the soundstage will be different, but who's to say that is a bad thing?
If you have two left speakers on your left, and two right speakers on your right then any sound which is meant to come from a left speaker will seem to come from a point between the two left speakers (providiing they are on the same volume)
Similarly a sound which is supposed to emanate from an imaginary point between the two front speakers will then seem to come from an imaginary point in the middle of the room.
Your argument that if the sound was recorded for two speakers it should be played through two, conflicts with the idea that cube (Beovox 2500) tweeters should be distanced from the main speakers as this widens the sound stage.
What's wrong with widening the sound stage and deepening it too?

Andy T.

When I had a surround sound, it sure helped in making things seem 'deeper', but overall I felt it made things really vague and just 'generic'. I found I couldn't position where music was coming from.