While I agree for the same dollars you can likely put together a better sounding 2 channel setup than 5.1 channel, I have to say that done right, dollars be damned, the best 5.1 sounds leaps and bounds better than the best 2 channel. I think that is the point of Alan's original article.

Done properly 5.1 is better than 2.

I don't see the controversey in that.