There is a ton of research in this field in academia:
http://mtg.upf.edu/system/files/publications/Schmele-Timothy-Master-thesis-2011.pdf
Some of the people listed in thank you section of this have extensive research in this subject. Better break out Google Scholar and do some reading.
Before you go down this road, keep in mind speaker placement and frequency reproduction of the speakers will have a drastic affect on head related transfer functions. (HRTF) While in grad school I have listened to pieces/textural compositions that were able to do this, and some that failed miserably.
A good thing to study is also some of the magic frequencies that have a great perception on our perception of sound. Strong content at 8kHz will make a sound feel like it is sitting on top of your head. Try boosting that on a lead synth sound in track sometime, works wonders.