multichannel. I'd drop to a 5.1 configuration and leave it at that. What model Onkyo HTIB do you have?

If you don't listen to your stereo every day, should you switch to a boom box? Why not get an Ipod and use some mini speakers? Because it would sound thin, small and have garbage resolution, obviously.

Contrary to what companies have been claiming for years, Bose being the worst offender, the laws of physics have not in fact been altered to fit in with home decor better.You can't get large sound from something small, any more than a four-cylinder car is going to be on par with an eight-cylinder one for speed or performance. It just doesn't work.

If people want to get a sound bar, or tiny cubes, that's fine, but they are fooling themselves if they think it sounds anything like full-sized speakers, or even smallish bookshelf speakers. Most of the sound is in the midrange, not the very highs, so you are asking the sub to do 75% of the music for you- it just doesn't work.