You are there-they are here

I think it depends more on the kind of music. What I listen to cannot fit in my room so I opt for the illusion of being where they are.

Excellent question. It was discussed at length a few years ago in this thread. My own comments are included there, which are consistent with the response that Kal (Kr4) provided above.

Regards,
-- Al

Your system is there to provide suspension of belief and fool the senses.

I agree with Al and Kal, I want my system to be able to portray both depending upon the material I am enjoying at any given time. Yes, one system can do both, if properly set-up and your room is capable of allowing that suspension of belief to occur. How to do that is the subject of many other threads, search them out.

Demar,
I've found that in my system the type of presentation depends on the recording itself.
Regards,

Definitely check out the thread Al referenced. I would definitely emphasize the word illusion in your post, though, especially with respect to they are here. Simply not going to happen if you listen to large ensemble music. And I would agree with Charles that this is also very recording dependent.