I should be more clear about the soundstage thing, and how it differs from "imaging." Often conflated (as I did) imaging is what's contained in the recording; soundstage is what's created by the speakers/headphones. Earbuds/plugs have difficulty creating a soundstage that seems larger than the inside of your head, or that's in front of you and not to the sides. Good on-ear or over-ear phones can have a more open sound with a more natural soundstage, more speaker-like (at least more than buds).
I built my 5.1 (now 7.1) system for movies, but with multichannel audio as an important secondary mission, so the four surround speakers are timbre-matched with the main towers and center (all Definitive Technology), and the system includes two subs. For a list of well-regarded surround discs, look here: https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/TabbedPollChart.htm.
My own favorite is not on that list: Chick Corea's Rendezvous in New York, which is a 2-disc highlights compilation on SACD of his three-week run of career-retrospective shows at the Blue Note in 2003, featuring many of the artists with whom he's collaborated over the years. It turns your listening room into a completely convicing aural replica of the club: Close your eyes and you're there, in ideal seats, in one of the world's finest jazz rooms.
Usually I prefer multi-track recordings remixed into five discrete channels (such as Wilson's mixes of Yes, Tull, XTC, or his own music) which really leverage the close-listening process -- even sometimes letting you walk right up to one speaker for literal close listening to a particular player. The link above is good for finding the best of these.
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