TypeE, GeneticDrift,and all,
More money will not necessarily buy you a better center channel than the VP150. Properly placed--and that may vary a lot with every setup, given the vagaries of rooms and the influence they have on the perceived tonal balance--the VP150 and VP100 are sufficiently neutral that they blend very well with the M2i's, M60s, M22s, M80s, etc.
Because of boundary effects, no center channel will ever sound identical in tonal balance to its mates on the left and right, even when you use an identical model as a center speaker. The goal is to experiment with center-channel placement until you get the center's timbral balance as close as possible to the mains, such that any coloration is not a distraction. And that is attainable with either the VP100 or VP150.
A phantom center is not a solution. It's extremely anti-social because only one listener can use the system. For anyone sitting off-axis, the dialog will collapse to the nearer right or left main speaker. And you also can't trim the center dialog volume for greatest intelligibility.
Regards,
