You need to understand a little bit about stereo hearing. You have two ears that allow you to detect the approximate direction and distance a sound is coming from. Stereo recording and playback is an attempt to capture the original performance's direction & distance information. For that to happen, you have to have a *stereo* recording. Very few recordings are done simply with 2 microphones to get true stereo. Most recordings are two-channel—multi-miked and mixed down to left & right channels—they are not stereo, although they may be labeled as such. For two-channel recordings, soundstage and imaging are nonexistent. What you hear is an imagined soundstage created by your mind's ear. This is a product of your experience, the mastering of the recording, and the combination of speaker dispersion pattern with your room's acoustics. It's going to vary from one recording to the next.
See Depth Perception
See Depth Perception