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RE: There are precious few products from the 50’s that I find superior to products today

I'm a little surprised that you say that "...in RCA Living Stereo Recordings, violins, especially, appear pinned to the left front speaker...." The earliest RCA 2-track stereo recordings can be left-rightish, but RCA switched to 3-track tape machines in 1955, and Mercury did 3-track stereo from the beginning, as did Everest. This gave center fill. For example on Reiner's Lt. Kije or Strauss Waltzes, I get string sound spread across from speaker to speaker. Orchestra Hall in Chicago has a very wide shallow stage, so the left-rightness is emphasized.

This 3 spaced omni mike technique doesn't give a completely accurate soundstage. Only Blumlein miking (coincident miking) does, but it has the disadvantage of weaker bass and narrow soundstage, unless outriggers are used. Decca/London started with 3 closely spaced omnis (Decca tree) and later added outriggers. Multimiking later took over, ending the "Golden Age." Telarc returned to the 3 spaced omni technique. They deliberately imitated Mercury.

There is no way to get around the limitations of various miking techniques. All modern recording is done with variations of the techniques pioneered in the early days of stereo, including the more closely spaced cardioid mikes aimed at a certain angle.

I just received the Hank Jones Last Recording SACD from Japan. This has a totally contrived soundstage. The notes say 13 microphones were used, and the diagram, if I am interpreting it correctly, shows baffles isolating all the instruments. There doesn't seems to be a pair of stereo mikes suspended over the whole ensemble to give a believable coherence amd sense of space. Yet it is still a very satisfying recording. This is a superb sounding example of multimiking, and it was recorded in 2010! Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

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