Soundstaging and Imaging: The Delusion about The Illusion

In contrast to all that has been said, I must admit to really digging the occasional formative tune on my trucks sound system!  Imaging is meaningless and rarely thought of in such circumstances but does not diminish the aural pleasure in the least.  If the music is tight, and you are feeling right...well, ya know what I mean:)

If someone wants to use a tricked-up stereo test disk or LP to demonstrate "where I am standing is to the right of, to the left of, in front of, behind of, under or above the right speaker," then have at it and be convinced that imaging exists.
The point of the Stereophile article is whether soundstaging is real in an audio recording played back via a stereo reproduction system. The article is sufficiently cogent to express the view that the answer depends on many things.
Recall Bose 901’s? That ratio of 1 (direct) to 9 (reflected) reproduced sound model was based upon acoustic hall characteristics in several well-known halls. A lot of audiophiles rejected the concept, suggesting that certain illusions are not accepted as adequate facsimiles of the "real thing" for all things.

@celander - your last post suggests that you don't believe imaging exists in a reproduction system. I don't need "test" recordings to establish what I hear. It is a "real illusion" to me, that depends on the recording. 
The Bose example is interesting. Did you know that Bose sued Consumer Union for a bad review?
What is your position, now that we've given you our (various) views?

I’m pretty sure I can break this deadlock. Reverberant decay, echo, acoustic reflections, and any other naturally occuring dynamic acoustic phenomena found in the recording venue for live recordings are captured by the microphones and form the basis of the venue’s “soundstage” when played back on a reasonably good system. This soundstage information is contained in mono and stereo recordings. “A Reasonably good system” obviously being subjective. 🤗 In fact, as I’ve written, the actual Time-Space of the recording is captured on the recording but that’s beyond scope and best saved for another day. 😛