What is Imaging?

I know that some people disparage the value of imaging because you don't get imaging and sound staging effects at a live concert. But if the recording engineer deliberately manipulated or recorded or mixed the music so to create a sense of location of instruments/voices and an expansive soundstage, then I want my rig to reproduce that. Its' one of the great pleasures of good home audio in my book.

You are fully right!!

I'm siting here listening to Copelands Symphony Number 3 on my Magnepans. This is imaging.

Left speaker emits sound. Right speaker emits sound.
If/when you can place them to work together in the proper positions, the individual sounds emitted by the individual boxes will seem to disappear and "image" into a 3-D sound stage.

That is imaging.

Like the focus ring on a lens. Twist it around until you see a clear image.

Nice said, but the most people have a 2-dimensional sound. And they also have an image!!