How much better than the VP150? Good question, the VP150 is a good center for what it was originally designed for but the VP160 is a FULL range center with good off axis response. I could say it is like comparing the M22 to the M60 or M80, the M22 is a great speaker but it isn't up to the same level as the floorstanders, the 160 is worth the $100 more to buy, but this is also just my opinion, YMMV.
Quite frankly, I have always thought with the introduction of Blu-Ray and lossless audio, full-range center channel models like the VP180 and 160 were pretty much mandatory and long overdue. I am still quite surprised, though, that many major speaker companies who sell very expensive L/R speakers still only offer relatively small center channels similar to the VP150 with max. five and a half inch woofers and of course, they are generally considerably more expensive.
I had a "Totem Rainmaker" center channel($1000)that I sold at a tremendous loss, and it was probably the most disappointing center channel that I ever owned. It was still a "small" center channel speaker with a small cabinet and all the limitations such a speaker has to endure, regardless of the companies advertising.
