Eye-brain effect

Does anyone else think that the eye-brain interaction may have as big (and possibly much bigger) an effect on imaging and soundstaging issues than even the equipment.

For example, when I see speakers a few feet out from the back wall, I am just not able to suspend belief enough to "hear" past the wall. I have trouble imagining a huge orchestra in a 15' wide room. I am very happy with small ensembles in said room and can almost imagine that "they are there". There are times, under those circumstances, when a singer is 6 feet tall and the guitar sounds about the size of the real thing (which I have heard in my living room).