Is soundstage DEPTH a myth?

Is soundstage DEPTH a myth?

Yes.

If when hearing a well sorted hifi system playing, for example, orchestral music, and you don't heard depth you should simply find something else to do. Engineers use panning and level to great effect in producing recordings with realistic sound staging including depth. It's there...

You don't need to spend a lot to get soundstage or depth. First time I heard it was with in the1980's Marantz 2035, Pioneer turntable/Shure cartridge and Advent speakers. Of course the more money you spend the better it is. My Harbeth 30.2 and Luxman integrated do way better.

Funny thing is, I recently listened to several songs on a well-known $12K DAC and $20K speakers and the imaging was very wide, but the height and depth was barely there. So money isn't everything.

i will put this here - given the topic being discussed it is worth a watch i believe, specifically for the comments in the second half around how the speakers need to be well into the room to get the proper depth of image

the rest of video is just ok, these two are not among my favorite folks on y-t, much of their content is pretty worthless, but in this particular case, i think their discussion around how speakers image is spot-on and very salient to this thread

https://youtu.be/GTwwvY8Is1o

In my humble experience : speaker placement is the biggest factor of hearing (and reproducing )  the “depth” from your source of music.  In most cases if your speakers are placed too close to the front wall of the room you tend to have a rather flat sound image ( no depth). Regardless of how expensive the gears are. 
 

Try to pull your speakers 12 inches forward and see if you hear a difference ? 
Have fun and enjoy !