farmhaus25,
Surround speakers, and QS8s (or QS4s) are not meant to "image" precisely in the manner of the main front speakers. The purpose of surrounds in a domestic home theater is to mimic the sense of envelopment in ambient sound that you experience in a Dolby Digital or THX cinema, where rows of conventional speakers down each side wall (plus a couple at the rear wall) deliver the ambient effects as well as occasional directional cues that may be hard-mixed to the left or right rear.
The QS8s are extremely effective at providing the envelopment and a sense of immersion in the surround field. They also retain directional specificity when sounds are hard-mixed to the sides or rear, even with multi-channel music playback. Certainly in my tests, they have no problem delivering the direction of a flyover if it occurs, say, from the right side/rear to the left front.
Did you experiment with QS8 placement with temporary supports like a couple of stepladders, while you listened to playback before you chose your surround locations? If not, I suggest you do that. While the QS8s are very adaptable, even to asymmetrical placement, experimenting almost always yields optimal performance, just as it does with the main front channels and the subwoofer. I don't recall a single owner of QS8s or QS4s being disappointed in their performance; on the contrary, most QS8s users are elated with the sense of envelopment and seamlessness of immersion in the surround soundfield delivered by the QS8s.
Regards,
