Stereo or monaural for solo instruments

I began my listening interests in the days before stereo and, at that time, of course, enjoyed listening as much as I do now. As a matter of fact, because much of my listening interest involves solo guitar, I wonder if returning to monaural reproduction might be as accurate a presentation of, if not more so, than stereo.

I experimented with this a bit by adjusting the balance to either the right or left speakers while listening to one of my favorite Adrian Legg CD's and found the sound to be quite realistic but with something missing that I can't put my finger on. I assume that some of this has to do with recording studio setup.

I realize that in a properly balanced system the sound is apparently centered but I also have developed hearing issues that make it difficult to separate individual instruments from one another. This is probably one of the reasons that I like the simplicity of single instruments at a time.

Anyway, I like the idea and the simplicity of sound emanating from a single location as it would be if the guitarist was sitting across the room from me but before I start looking for a way to best modify my system to, at least, listen to certain music that way, I would like to hear any suggestions that you may have.