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I voted important. I was tempted to vote "it's everything" but I went with the next option because like @tonycollinet , I wouldn't enjoy music nearly as much if my system did not also have good frequency linearity (and low distortion, and minimal noise).
But imaging remains very important to me, not because I care about a realistic illusion, but rather because I like a soundstage presentation that is precise enough that I can pick out instruments and vocals clearly and distinctly. Conversely, I don't generally like mono, but not because it isn't stereo per se - I just don't care for it because the image most mono recordings put out there (at least on my system) seems narrower and with less space (actual or illusory) between the instruments and vocals in the mix.
I do find it a bit confusing, but also interesting, that folks are talking about stereo imaging in terms of immersion. To me, precision of imaging is almost an opposite to immersion - I'm talking about the discussion we often have here at ASR about speaker dispersion characteristics and how in a typical listening space there tends to be a tradeoff between pinpoint imaging but a narrower soundstage from narrow-dispersion speakers, and wider, more enveloping soundstage but less precise imaging from wider-dispersion speakers. I've had a room setup in the past that was more enveloping (relative to the size of the room, anyway - that room was 60% smaller than my current one) while less precise with imaging, and while there is a tradeoff, I greatly prefer the more precise imaging of my current room and would not want to go back.
But imaging remains very important to me, not because I care about a realistic illusion, but rather because I like a soundstage presentation that is precise enough that I can pick out instruments and vocals clearly and distinctly. Conversely, I don't generally like mono, but not because it isn't stereo per se - I just don't care for it because the image most mono recordings put out there (at least on my system) seems narrower and with less space (actual or illusory) between the instruments and vocals in the mix.
I do find it a bit confusing, but also interesting, that folks are talking about stereo imaging in terms of immersion. To me, precision of imaging is almost an opposite to immersion - I'm talking about the discussion we often have here at ASR about speaker dispersion characteristics and how in a typical listening space there tends to be a tradeoff between pinpoint imaging but a narrower soundstage from narrow-dispersion speakers, and wider, more enveloping soundstage but less precise imaging from wider-dispersion speakers. I've had a room setup in the past that was more enveloping (relative to the size of the room, anyway - that room was 60% smaller than my current one) while less precise with imaging, and while there is a tradeoff, I greatly prefer the more precise imaging of my current room and would not want to go back.
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