There are times when stereo separation is more trouble than it’s worth.
I don’t know if it’s just me — I have a number of small neurological quirks, it seems — but unbalanced stereo placement upsets me. Physically. I was watching a movie with some of the usual crew at the old cmdo headquarters (of which the less said the better), and the way it worked out I ended up sitting with my head half-outside of the five-speaker stereo zone that had been established. I found this sufficiently disorienting that after ten minutes I was actually dizzy.
I mention this now because I’m trying to listen to music at work through my crappy little computer speakers. There seems to be a small bit of faulty wiring, because the balance keeps tipping between speakers. This makes me sad, because it’s proving a sufficient distraction that the original purpose — helping me get work done — is being lost.