In my simple way of viewing of things, "imaging" is when a speaker disappears so that sound is non-directional and more akin to a soft focus. I find this more achievable by 2 way speakers than 3 ways.
Soundstaging and Imaging: The Delusion about The Illusion
Soundstaging in a recording—be it a live performance or studio event—and it’s reproduction in the home has been the topic of many a discussion both in the forums and in the audio press. Yet, is a recording’s soundstage and imaging of individual participants, whether musicians or vocalists, things that one can truly perceive or are they merely illusions that we all are imagining as some sort of delusion?
https://www.stereophile.com/content/clowns-left-me-jokers-right
https://www.stereophile.com/content/clowns-left-me-jokers-right