My thoughts on this subject are (or maybe seem) very
different from many here so I don't see it as disagreeing
and those of you who do feel different about it that's O.K
I think about what you people say and what you say
does matter to me even if we see things differently.

 I might even go further to say that sometimes I may
"want to know" how others see things. That's part of
why I think about the logistics of things sometimes.
It looks as though that many songs are mixed in
whatever fashion they are done/panned in  to
satisfy either "taste" or "requirement".

  Many times when the "extreme panning" subject is
talked about it is almost always referred back to "older"
music as proof that it is the way to do things. I'm in
my mid 50's so I've seen the changes through the
years. I'm not one to say that old is good and that
new isn't.

   But I don't downgrade "new" ways ideas or
approaches either. There is no doubt that trying to
make a song sound good without the capability
to have a left/ right "stereo" sound is much more
difficult.  It's the same with "single song mastering"

  If we don't have those luxuries then what choice
do we have? We have to find "something" that's
going to gives us an edge toward quality. In my
case what I do is sort of "limit" myself. I try to use
less tools to work with so I have to learn to make
what I do have work.

  I've learned more about mixing by "trying not to"
use certain tools and fancy bussing and panning etc.
but it's hard and painstaking. Some of us don't
want that hassle. It's sort of like how sometimes
a handicapped persons "other senses" become more
"keen" when one is lost.

  My ears have to "learn". Of course we all know that
but at this point in time I think I will always have in
one way or another "learning ears". Maybe that's why
at the moment I tend to desire only a small stereo image.
Maybe it's my ears wanting to focus on tonal quality
and character.  

  As I continue to mix and try things I find myself desiring
to hear more of a "space" in the mix. The space I want to
hear is so "all around" that there is no definite LCR in
that space because it all blends together. (even though
it's Left/ center/ right) but it is also "everywhere" in
between in varying degrees.

  If I can put a mono track in the center and create this
all around "space" on top of it then I feel like I've done
something. But then the question of whether that can
be done when adding so many others instruments
to have a final mix is going to work?

  At this point in time it does seem to work very well
for me but what it did was tell me my tracks individual
tonal character/quality was not working. Then I found
that most of the samples available were not cutting it.

 I had to more or less create my own samples. So it
was very much a back and forth thing. With that said
it seems to me that stereo imaging is not just a
matter of the "image" but also a matter of the "quality"
in that "image".