is the 1990s "WIDE MODE" setting the 'soundstage' of today, and a gimmick?

Electronic gimmickry like that is fine on less expensive gear, like a a boom box. But it is a detriment on higher end gear. 

Yes but i wonder if any current high end gear is secretly implementing these tricks?  Throw in a couple of capacitors/resistors whatever in one of the channels, throw off the phase and increase the soundstage?  Perhaps a little sleight of hand with a microchip or two?

I don't know i'm just speculating, but I agree with you it would be a detriment and a crime for a company to do that without letting buyers know.

One of the reason I'm not a big fan of speaker crossovers being potted. I can't see or fix the silly things, usually. I don't like it when the speakers are wired out of phase to get a flatter response, either. OB you almost can't help it but in a box, yuk..

Regards

@fai_v 

No. High end gear has not implemented this stuff as a trick. High Fidelity reproduction is really difficult and those most successful at good reproduction have spent incredible time and effort simplifying and choosing the highest quality parts to touch things less in order to better capture the real thing. 
 

Play with the signal and the hi fidelity goes away. It’s not a thing.

I've been using a Caver C9 sonic hologram in my system since I bought it in the late 80s. A few years back I had it rebuilt and modified to a higher standard. I'm sure a lot of people here would  poo poo it but unless you hear it in a system that has a good sound stage already it can be amazing. The soundstage opens up in every way and the instruments and vocals  become way more singular. I've used it since the late 80s and I hope to still be using it when I'm in my late 80s lol

A trick you can use in the studio to get a faux wide soundfield is to place a delay on either the left OR right channel (not both) and set a small MS delay. Probably some derivative of whats happening. Easy enough to implement in budget gear.