Metaphysics, you now astonish me. You state that vertical and front-to-back info (ie,soundstage) comes ONLY from the left and right speakers. I must disagree. By your logic headphones should have the best 3-D imaging (pure left-right signal to the ears, correct?). Suffice it to say they do not. It is the complex interaction of the primary signal of a speaker in 3-dimensional space with its multiple reflections that creates the illusion of a soundstage. And it is easy to grossly imbalance these reflections by overdamping only one of the six parallel reflective surfaces found in the usual listening room(ie the floor). I never said the floor shouldn't be damped. My point is that it can be OVERDAMPED which will skew but not necessarily improve the soundstage. That's what this thread was all about: thick vs thin padding. Thin might sound better.
A "psychoacoustic" example: Unless your room is anechoic there will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be a first reflection from SOMEWHERE! Moving it off the floor by overdamping it simply changes the source of the first reflection, which may NOT improve the soundstage.
Meta, with all due respect, if you can't smooch Diana perhaps your carpet padding is too thick.
