Brian, adding the furniture and rug should have the effect of making the room a bit less "alive", so what you observed is puzzling. As far as the Audyssey effect on this, using the "Audyssey" curve rather than the "Flat" curve creates a gentle treble roll-off.

Using a single back surround speaker immediately behind the listener generally isn't a good idea and can make some sounds intended to image in back instead appear to come from the front.

Having two M22s just about three feet behind you sounds too close-up for a good back surround effect. One thing you might experiment with to give a more diffuse sound is to put the M22s flat on the floor behind the couch, separated about four feet and firing up toward the ceiling.


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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.