Innovator,

Maybe I'm missing something with your post, but I don't follow whatever it is that you are trying to say.

You want to listen to "stereo" music, without a centre channel, but with surrounds on? To my mind "stereo" is a left and a right front speaker - nothing else.

In that case an answer to your question is: it depends. It depends on your room layout, speaker separation, source material, etc. I've found that with speakers set pretty far apart, having a centre mono speaker "fills a gap" in the sound - rather than reducing stereo separation.

But it's your system - and your listening experience. So do whatever sounds best to you. Nothing that you do will be "wrong" - so long as you enjoy it. (To paraphrase the greatest Canadian Prime Minister ever: "What goes on in the home theatres of the Nation is nobody else's business.")

As for the "one button" solution: having a separate centre channel amp with power button within reach would work.

Regards.

Jeff Mackwood
Ottawa