Depth of sound stage--I need help

I've been thinking bout this soundstage thing for a while now and depending on what is being listened to the depth part of it can be one big illusion. As indicated above the illusion can be helped by speaker placement but i think that walk around the dude feeling is very recording dependant even with a killer rig. If you are listening to classical or a small jazz band with the whole stage miked by a few overhead condenser mikes the depth thing is the real deal reflecting the time required for the sound to reach the mike from different parts of the stage. Likewise if you are listening to a recording where everyone played live and there was bleed through into the vocal mike up front or maybe, but not likely, into adjacent instrument mikes there may be some real depth. The truth is that for a lot of recordings a SM-57 or equivalent gets shoved in front of the amplifier or drum in a close mike arangement where every instrument is isolated in it's own channel. Ain't no depth to be found there. That being said as Drrdiamond pointed out for classical there isn't all that much depth i can back that up for almost any amplified instrument show i've ever attended.

buy some sound labs,and sit nearfield and watch the soundstage drop back.

I own the 333es which is a good enough unit but really does lack the resolution to presnt the ambient cues to give you a 3D soundstage. When compared with a bel canto dac I had it most notably lacked depth. I have since sold my bel canto and had Dan Wright of ModWright modify 333es for $350. It was an amazing transformation and on redbook beats the bel canto or PT combo and is unbelievable on sacd. I can recommend this as the most cost effective solution to your problem. You are suffering forom a lack of resolution, the AP speakers can throw an amazing soundstage( I have the Virgos) and the quicksilver tube gear should be great.
check out www.modwright.com

I have found that MIT cables create a very deep and wide soundstage with great imaging.