Why don't more recordings have soundstage outside of speakers

This topic reminds me of Carver's Sonic Holography.  Years ago I had a Carver preamp with the SH built in.  It worked but had to be set up just perfectly with your listening position with 1/4 inch distant from each speaker. Many rock recordings are not of the finest engineered.  Some use effects which can be fun.   I'm not against it.  It's all about listening to music you enjoy and having fun. 
I have some stereo recordings that sound almost mono with all the music squashed in between the speakers and others that the sound can go pretty far beyond or behind and even above and others that pretty much stay within the limits of the speakers.  

pragmus and anyone else who thinks stereo systems should image outside of the loudspeakers:
You ability to determine where a sound is coming from depends mostly on where the loudest sound in coming from and the delay between getting to one ear to the other. If you do not agree with this you can stop right here.
The volume of the sound coming from a point source speaker decays at the cube of the distance. If you do not agree with this you can also exit here. 
lets set up two microphones each one connected to it's own speaker in another room 10 feet apart left and right. I'm going to have a trumpet player walk up to the left channel microphone and play a tune. The listener in the next room is going to hear the trumpet coming from the left channel speaker and maybe a tiny bit from the right channel speaker as the right channel mic is on and it will pick up the trumpet but at a much lower level. In short you hear the trumpet coming from the left channel speaker directly and not to either side because the sound to either side drops of at the cube of the distance and you only hear the trumpet coming from the loudest source which is directly from the speaker. The same will be true in opposite if the trumpet is played into the right channel mic. If I put the mics together and play into both on them the trumpet is going to appear as if were coming out of thin air directly between the speakers. You can read her for the theory  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereophonic_sound 
Never does the sound come from beyond the speakers and this holds for an entire symphony orchestra. If a sound is coming from outside the speakers there are only three ways that can happen. 1st is there is another speaker such as a surround sound set up playing. Next is a studio phasing trick where you get cancelation in front of the loudest source throwing the sound out to the side like Roger Waters does on Amused to Death. Last is the speaker is right next to a wall and the first reflection is loud enough to move an instrument beyond the speaker. This is a distortion as I pointed out earlier. All first reflections should be dampened so this does not happen. Imaging outside the speakers is a sign of poor room control. The ambiance of a recording can be outside the speakers as it is a product of late reflections but that is it.  

I forgot to mention dipole users. If angled correctly dipoles can bounce sound off the front wall, then the side wall next to the speaker to the listener and the reflected sound can throw instruments to the outside. But, this is also a distortion and should be dampened out.
This is probably a good reason why many people do not get decent imaging because reflected sounds can play havoc with it.

Mijostus - 

You ability to determine where a sound is coming from depends mostly on where the loudest sound in coming from and the delay between getting to one ear to the other.

You then go on to talk about relative amplitude and don't mention the delay again at any point in your thought experiment. If you listen to a binaural recording through headphones it is immediately apparent that there's more going on than just 'the left is louder so it must be over there'.

People talking about music - 
Tom Waits' Rain Dogs LP has a nice sound stage too.

pragmus and anyone else who thinks stereo systems should image outside of the loudspeakers:
You ability to determine where a sound is coming from depends mostly on where the loudest sound in coming from and the delay between getting to one ear to the other. If you do not agree with this you can stop right here.
The volume of the sound coming from a point source speaker decays at the cube of the distance. If you do not agree with this you can also exit here.

Your science is staggering!

Your ignorance also!

You are like first of the class that learned the formula by heart without knowing what they means concretely...

You forgot to experiment with anything save an electronical equalizer tool...

Acoustic is not about volume only but about timing of different volume and frequencies....Acoustic is about the GENESIS of TIMBRE and IMAGING linked together....The 2 are not reducible to playing with frequencies only....REAL TIMING in the room with EARS is necessary...

Not only timing for the room specific character but for the ears/head/brain located in the room not in a millimeter location but in a location stretching for the size of an head.... Then forget microphone feedback selected frequencies for a millimeter ONLY if their value can be useful... Out of this millimeter range the response is gone AMOK....


Acoustic is about diffusion....

Diffusing the right frequencies , damping some others....Not only by acoustical panel surfaces on walls but with Resonators that can do the TWO functions at the same time....Yes the 2 functions at the same time....


Acoustic is about MARKING OUT the 2 first wavefronts coming from EACH speaker for EACH ears and timing the 2 wavefronts in relation with the head distance....

How to mark out the wavefronts for each ear?


Using resonators near the driver of one speaker and resonators near the tweeter of the other speaker.... With asymmetrical resonators located at first reflecting point GUESS WHY?


If you cannot guess why and agree with it you can also exit here and stay with your pityful sound between speakers thinking that must be so, because the user manual of an electronical equalizer said so....

I guess you was first of your class when young... 😊

I was last but was accepted to top college without the usual good grades...

I was accepted to doctorate also without having complete a first year of university....I am creative not a sheep...

 I am tired of your rant against evidence and against everybody testimonies here...And your dismissing of anything that is out of the orthodox and any experiments...

All the people enjoying sound filling the room are not in an hallucination but they are wiseful enough to use other ways than electronical equalization for solution to all acoustic problem.... Then dont give them lesson...Listen first....



Try to buy a book about acoustic, i will send you one free (800 pages) if you send me your mail....


Begin with this short video of an acoustician saying what i try to say to you for almost months now:


Room Correction Deception:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljfts9k5OBw&list=PLnQJF3Qi_4_A5BFgnV1w5wNNfnks3u0oL&index=12

Electronic equalization is not a solution ONLY a secondary tool in acoustic...

Helmholtz resonators grid are PART of the room....