micah, keep in mind that although computer technology changes by the month to year, people are ALOT slower to adopt new home technologies in A/V.
A ton of North Americans are still scrambling now to get hooked up with a digital receiver because of the recent broadcasting transmission shift. A majority of people who own TVs in N.America do not own any surround sound system.
Heck, i thik of the people i know either at work, friends or family and easily 95% or more DO NOT have any sort of surround sound system and some don't even own a stereo.
Although the latest A/V innovations seems like the # of surround speakers is increasing as a standard, the movies and tv content will unlikely not conform to such a standard for a very long time given what i've already mentioned. Your point about adopting early with a 9.1 receiver is proof of that pudding.
Anyone know of a dvd that has 9.1 encoded sound? Let alone 5 years ago? Or for that matter, 5 years after you bought it such a standard has not evolved.
There would be no point to make dvds or tv broadcasting in such standards except to serve the small percentage of North Americans who are enthralled with surround systems and have the money and gusto to actually buy and set one up. That and the bandwidth could be a limitation, that i'm unsure.
Most ppl here on the forums are WAY ahead of the curve when it comes to home audio equipment ownership. Get a good 5.1, MAYBE a 7.1 setup and sit back and relax for the next decade.
The term "upgrade" is far over used in these forums IMO.
