All channel stereo should never have been invented.
Uh-oh, now you've done it. This thread is about to get really long
I think the rationale for multi-channel "stereo" was that stereo is inherently a compromise and not capable of fully capturing all the nuances of the original performance.
That said, I grew up with stereo and to me "that is what music is supposed to sound like". In fairness, one of the reasons I feel that way is that my legs are too long for me to fit in the seats at most live performance venues so my listening experience may be a little biased towards stereo.
