No problem; I use it simply because it help me keep my thoughts straight when addressing various points. I think you left out a step: when the recording engineer checks his mix, he hears the bass from all the channels PLUS five channels worth of additional bass coming from the LFE channel. Realizing that that's twice as much bass as he was intending, he adjust all the channels to achieve proper bass balance. Upon playback, none of the low frequencies are discarded, thus preserving the original balance. Or are you saying that recording engineers will copy the low frequency content of 5 channels but won't bother to find how that (rather large) change impacts the mix? In this example, the subwoofer is playing 2 things: derived bass (derived from the other channels) below 40Hz and discrete bass (from the discrete LFE channel) from 80Hz downwards. From 40Hz to 80Hz the sub is only reproducing the LFE signal; no derived bass. How is this "doubling of 40 to 80 Hz"?

I still don't understand what you have against the LFE channel. For it to create the problems you describe, there seems to be a prerequisite of an inept engineer during recording and/or improper bass management during playback. Hey, that's my question. But to answer it, yes I do. However, the few that are truly full range (Infintys, Martin Logans, Dunlavys, etc) are all very large and all use a separate bass enclosure that is almost as big as the speaker itself. Oddly enough, the manufacturers still refer to these two-piece units as one speaker.

Since it is impractical to have 5 of these large speakers in the homes of most consumers, let alone have the room to place each one of them the same distance from the listener, I feel it is practical to apply bass management and time alignment to SACD/DVD-A signals, even if it means digitizing the signal (of course, using high quality A/D and D/A conversion). I don't know if you are aware but pre-pros from Meridian, Lexicon and Mark Levinson ALL digitize a 5.1-channel signal upon input.

As impractical as it is to have 5 or 7 full range speakers at home, it is not that difficult to find affordable subs that go down below 20Hz. With that in mind, it makes more sense to me to process a SACD/DVD-A signal and enjoy the full content of all the channels rather than discard the entire LFE channel. Again, this may all come down to personal preference and what each one of is willing to compromise.

You started your participation in this thread with the claim "For SACD, read listening to music, there is no need to do ANY processing." Rather than reply with something just as definitive, insisting that the signal needs be processed, I instead wanted to point out that there are genuine and practical benefits to processing the signal. Whether you choose to or not is up to the individual listener; there are benefits and compromises to both methods. Again, personal preference.

As for your comments about the 950: That's one are where we are in 100% agreement.

Best,
Sanjay