Image depth

Furthermore, it seems to me that a few microphones, no matter where they are positioned during recording, cannot possibly duplicate a music waveform’s ampliture and phase exactly as it would occur at a live listener’s ears. So how can an accurate soundstage be created?

Do an internet search using the phrase "stereo recording techniques".  There are a vast number of articles describing different microphone placement and their impact on stereo sound reproduction.

Can anyone offer a technical explanation of how a stereo system recreates image depth?

As far as the recordings go, leave that for others, but how to get your system to extract the most do this.

 Remove anything between the speakers (equipment racks ect) and you’ll increase the depth perspective as your ears and eyes hear and see it.

Then one "BIG" step further is to remove the back wall from in between the speakers like I did, leaving a little 1-2mt behind each speaker for bass loading, and then hear and see your image depth go back much further to the back wall of the next room.

Cheers George

What I’m getting from reading about recording techniques, is that godd recording techniques will fool the ear-brain location finding function to create an approximate aural image, but does not actually duplicate the exact sonic signature (amplitude, phase) that would impinge on the ears during a live performance. The exception is binaural recording, which puts the mikes on a simulated human head.