The design and characterization of a high sensitivity multichannel momentum dispersive electron momentum spectrometer is reported. Electron pair coincidences are detected over a ±30° range of azimuthal angle at the exit slit of a cylindrical mirror analyzer configured to measure symmetric (&thgr;=45°) noncoplanar (e,2e) scattering. A position sensitive microchannel plate/resistive anode encoder electron detector and a channeltron electron multiplier are employed in a novel multichannel coincidence detection system based upon detection of ‘‘pile‐up’’ of pairs of timing pulses from the detectors. Proof‐of‐concept results, exhibiting significantly higher coincidence count rates and statistical precision than have been previously observed in electron momentum spectroscopy, are presented for argon.