before you do all that, why not just disconnect the tweeters within some of the cabnets.? If i was in your situation, i thinks thats what i would do...

You know, I thought about that last night. Didn't know if that was a good idea or not.

I'm going to install an older pair of M22 v2 on the wall under the TV for lower L/R channels. If this sounds ok to me, then at least it'll be more in-line with the in-cabinet VP160. May not change the sound, but may at least look a bit better, and who knows, maybe sound better too.

Another think I need to look at is some sound treatments for the room. I had thought that the new drapes, rug and furniture was enough, but maybe not. Does anybody know of something "cheap" I could try to see if this helps fix the problem? Then later I could replace the cheap stuff with something a bit more visually appealing. Something that actually works. Not the egg carton stuff.

The tweeters from the lower L/R seems to be one of the main culprits. Turning them upside down helped. Disconnecting them would probably look and sound better. Unplugging them helped a lot from a rear seating position, but up close was too distracting without them on.

I chose the Adele concert on BD as the first test for the Pioneer AVR. It was way too bright. The cat that was sitting beside me looked up at me and made a wincing look with her face. Priceless.

Cat, maybe you should verify that each of the woofers in your 74 speakers are working?

You forgot the sixteen in the ceiling and the ten in the floor. I think it rounds to an even 100 now.

Yeah, yeah.

I may have to enlist the help of the guy that calibrated my TV. He does the whole theater gamut of stuff. Just have to wait until later this year when I can afford him.

At least I have 2 good AVR's. One for a backup, and later can use downstairs in my "wish I had time and money to work on it" theater room. For now, it gives me something to play with an compare.

Unplugging the entire speaker, not just the tweeters.

Just make sure to insulate the leads, cover them with electrical tape, to make sure that they will not come in contact.. Heat shrink would be the best, if you ever needed to remove it, you could cut it off.