Mike, Part of the issue here is that when attending live performances there is a great deal of diversity in what one hears as a function of where one sits. If one sits fairly close to the stage on the main floor, what you hear is really very different than what you hear if you are seated in the dress circle. Sitting close you usually have a pretty good idea of instrument location, but from the dress circle in most halls you will hear a very blended symphony. Symphony, after all, means sound together.
Recording engineers have to make a decision about what kind of orchestral presentation they are trying to emulate. Very often, one will hear this bizarre blend of close vs distant mic position in the same recording. But if you are used to a main floor center row 6 listening perspective, you will look long and hard to find recordings that are single mic near center recordings. If you have been in attendance at performances that are being recorded, you will see microphones all over the hall and above the stage.
All that said, if you are hearing major orchestral sections out of place, something is not quite right. Assuming normal orchestral seating where 1st and 2nd violins are both on the left, you ought to be able to at least have that sense at home, given the quality of your gear. Now, if the orchestra is set up in a 1st violin left 2nd violin right configuration, then you are going to hear violins all the way across the stage. Celli and violas occupy center positions in that arrangement.
