Politest one I could Mo...

How could I have been so stupid as to hold a contrary opinion to you? You have your OPINION, so it must be right...

Yes, in VERY large halls, towards the back, you can't tell stereo from mono. You play those, much of the time? Didn't think so...

Carnegie Hall was designed as an acoustic venue. No PA's at all. Sometimes they are added nowadays, but a large proportion of the music played there has no PA at all. But every single recording from the 50's onwards has been recorded in stereo. Why capture it, if it is so unnecessary?

Because it has been discovered that people like a sense of sonic spaciousness to what they listen to, to recreate the experience of listening to MULTIPLE people play in an acoustic environment. We, with our arrangers (and don't kid yourselves, ONE auto track is as much a cop out as a whole backing) try to sound like a live performance (or, some of us, at least!), and to achieve that, the drums, the bass, whatever you DO use sounds better if it occupies the same sonic space as a real one.

In all but the largest, liveliest rooms, stereo sounds different to mono. MANY of us here like the sound of it, and our audiences do too (not to mention that the arranger's stereo sounds are designed to be used that way)... Forgive us for not agreeing with your opinion....