Well if you don't play in stereo, then fair enough. Quite right. You're never going to need the Enhancer block.
But I would disagree (as would plenty of pro players) that Stereo effects and delays in particular are 'excessive' 'barely noticable'. And they most definately are not detrimental.
One thing I've found is that they can be very noticable, and indeed useful. I employ them on most of my presets, along with the enhancer block to provide added width to the FOH. Many a punter has commented to me after a gig, not only complementing me on my sounds, but noting the stereo effects as superb, and quite unique because they never hear other players using them. I remember Grammy winner Larry Mitchell recounting pretty much the same experience, so I'm in exalted company.
That said, there are plenty of naysayers on this forum and others, 'the anti-stereo police' if you will, and that's good, because the fewer players using the stereo capability of this unit judiciously the better the results for those of us who do. Our little secret....haha!
When I was talking about stereo effects being excessive and barely noticeable, I was referring to a live setting. I've got nothing against stereo effects as they are. I use stereo effects in my mixes all the time, but live is where those problems arise.
First off, most small to medium sized venues (bars, clubs, cafes, a lot of outdoor venues, etc.) are barely going to get a stereo field because of the size, even venues with bigger capacity will have a very narrow stereo image if the speakers are still close together. In larger venues when the speakers are further apart it can be more effective, sure, but still far from ideal. The further back you are from the stage the smaller that stereo field becomes. If you're far left of the stage or far right, that stereo effect is basically non-existent. If you're using any sort of heavy stereo effects like a ping-pong, then everyone on the far left is only going to hear half of it, that goes for any hard-panned effects. If you're using a stereo trem or chorus, it becomes a mono chorus for a decent amount of the crowd. There's that zone in the middle of the room somewhere, that zone where stereo effects work well, and then the rest of the venue has a pretty skewed version of that stereo field. I mean, that's great that those 12 people are stoked on your stereo delay during the bridge, but not worth it in my opinion. For small or medium sized venues where the mixer has limited inputs, I'd rather get any number of other things in that extra input (ambient mic for in-ears, additional drum mics, leaving another mic or instrument from the other banned plugged in and ready to go without having to change settings, etc.)
As for the Enhancer specifically, it's got it's own things. The tonal differences are one for sure, but not the end of the world. For example, if you don't know how to use it, it will collapse in mono. It's been made with that in mind and as long as you're using it correctly that won't be an issue, but you gotta read the manual/Wiki to make sure. There's more than a few ways that one can screw that up. That might not be a big deal, but depending on the circumstance (maybe you're recording your guitar track mono off the board for example) it can leave you pretty bummed. I do enjoy widening mono lead guitars in a mix when I've got it panned down the center like the Enhancer can do, but then I'm also assuming the sound guy either already has me in the center, or he knows when my solos are and pans me that way. I highly doubt that the audience will notice the subtle stereo widening on the mono signal anyways... again, lots of variables. I don't know many professional engineers who use them, partly because of the mono compatibility issues, partly because there's a very strong attitude that you shouldn't need them (I completely agree), and partly because in a live scenario you don't have nearly as much control over the stereo field, and that it doesn't really "enhance" it in a lot of situations, just kinda "changes" it. I find it negatively impacts the tone as well, it creates a "smeared" sound even on subtle settings, so I just avoid them. A signal can't go wider than 100 L/R, it just can't. I've heard extremely wide mixes without the use of widening and really narrow mixes with tons of widening, and have never heard any mixes that showed stereo widening could do what normal panning, good EQ, and good effects couldn't do.
I use stereo effects in backing tracks live, but because of the differences between headphones and a live setting, I pan things a lot tighter than usual, and nothing is hard-panned L/R. Anything that was 100/100 on the record is usually pulled back to like 60/60 for the backing tracks. A lot of sound guys already pan a bit narrower or provide a "wash" of guitars on both sides to compensate for the variations in the stereo field, so listeners aren't losing the right guitar all night when you're at the left side of the stage/venue.
There's nothing "anti-stereo police" about it, I'm not dissing stereo effects as a whole. Stereo is a nice luxury when playing live
if you're in the right scenario. Problem is, too many people just run stereo because they think it "sounds cool" at home or at practice, or simply because they can. Use stereo effects, sure, but know what the limitations are, and know enough to understand when your stereo effect isn't adding anything to the show, and quite possibly making it worse (I've definitely seen a few of those). I think there's just as many obnoxious stereo-demanding guitarists who like to hear themselves in stereo ("but dude, it's how I get
my tone!") as there are these "naysayers" you speak of, but again, time and place.
