imaging of speakers
I think there's some confusion here between stereo imaging, which is created in the studio, and soundstage, which is how your system presents that recording.
It's also a bit of a generalisation to say small represents the soundstage better, because the general rule of thumb with any component in the chain is it's the design and quality which counts.
IMO. At the less expensive end of the market, standmounts generally image better than floorstanders.
I could believe that; the Tannoys I use now are unbelievably good. Pinpoint imaging but the scale they deliver is way beyond what you'd expect from a small box. I hear sounds from way outwith the range (left-to-right) that I'd expect them to produce.
Has anyone heard (or even heard of) the Role Sampan speakers ... apparently these super slim full range floorstanders have unbelievable (or should that be believable) imaging ... probably on account of them being single drivers (point sources) and having a slim low frontal area cabinet (minimum diffraction effects).
This is interesting...how the number of drivers would influence the soundstage? The more the better? Or not that easy as I guess?
Really like the direction this post is taking, lot of very interesting information...
Has anyone heard (or even heard of) the Role Sampan speakers ... apparently these super slim full range floorstanders have unbelievable (or should that be believable) imaging ... probably on account of them being single drivers (point sources) and having a slim low frontal area cabinet (minimum diffraction effects).
More information about Sampan speakers here:
http://www.roleaudio.com/sampan.html
Actually the design is bottom ported 
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For a while (whilst waiting for a new book cabinet) I had two thick hardback volumes of Churchill's war notes on top of each of my Rega R3s (an almost perfect fit) and I can confirm they sounded better as a result.
It made me wonder if this was the same (or similar) principle as the concrete weight that washing machines have bolted to the top of the drum housing (and massive pendular weights that some modern 'earthquake resistant' skyscrapers have near the top.)
Has any speaker design (especially floorstanders) ever had built-in mass loading at or near the top of the cabinet? (Apart from the drivers themselves.)
I remembered about 30 years ago one of my friends bought a pair of speakers costing more than £30,000 (sorry I cannot recall the speaker model as I had not heard of that at that time) which was about 3 feet high with a triangular top to accommodate the tweeter. It took two people to delivery the speaker to my friends home as each speaker weighted more than 100 pounds. My friend told me that the speakers were lined with thick lead sheets inside !!!
Yes, I think the concrete weight on top of washing machines is used to damp down the vibrations. Similar effects should be applicable to speakers but we need to do some try and error test to avoid overkill.
Enjoying music from a dream hi-fi system in a well treated room.