Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Do I need a center channel?

Current setup:

Axiom AX-5 fronts
Axiom AX-2 surrounds
Mirage MC-si center
Pioneer VSX-1018 7.1 Receiver
LG BH200 HDDVD/Bluray combo player

I'm in a real pickle. A good pickle, but a pickle nonetheless.

I really like the sound I receive from just the two AX5s and the two AX2s and phantoming the center channel. The AX5s and AX2s really match well together soundwise. However, being a stickler for the best home theatre sound, I found an old Mirage MC-si for a good price and set it up--not impressed.

The Mirage, as everyone will tell me, does not match perfectly with my AX5s but that's really not the issue. I can deal with the Mirage being a little brighter. What I can't deal with is the feeling that the center channel audio is "boxed in" and it makes the room feel as if most of the audio is coming only from a small section of the room while when I phantomed the center channel, it felt like there was audio all around me.

Is placement the issue here? Should center channels make you feel like the audio is only coming directly towards you from a 1.75' enclosure? Are my expectations too high? Maybe it's just the wrong speaker?

Thanks to all that reply.