Some place I read that the 5 channel stereo is really best for background music like at a party since the processor does minimal change to the extra channels and they all seem to sound the same. I am sure I like the 2.2 better in the living room but the 5 channel work well when I am not in there. I redid my setup manually way back when so that my left front became the center and the left rear became the left speaker and so on all the way around all five channels. This essentially moved the center of the sound stage one sppeaker counter clockwise around my room. I did it because I tend to sit in the right rear corner of my living room. I had to put it back because other people in the room hated it and the stage was too wide for the speakers to make the leap. One of the reasons I waited so long for Trinnov was that it has the capability to store multiple setups as far as direction and distance so that I could make one for watching movies and others for listening to music in various seats around the living room. The 990 has only one way to store the info as far as I know. The PR-SC886 also doesn't do multiple setups unless I missed something in the manual.