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Gary E:

I consider two-channel stereo the "mp3" of stereo! lol

It's an approximation of the spatiality of the original recording environme=
nt, or, a manufactured image(pan-pot mono).

Be very quiet as you read this. Listen to whatever sounds you are hearing,=
whatever they are coming from and which ever direction....

That is stereo! Where ever you are - in your house, on a commercial flight=
, hanging upside down from a set of parallel bars, rowing a canoe across a =
rapid, etc. - is stereo.

To practically reproduce the above environments with any number of speakers=
is theoretically impossible. Well, binaural done properly comes close, bu=
t still, the sound field is limited to and affected by the type(closed or o=
pen-back) and quality of headphones you are lisening via.

Stereo is everything - the source, proximity to or distance from, the radia=
tion pattern, reflectivity sources, vibration transmission - all of that, a=
nd more, localize you in that specific environment at that given time.