Welcome back Joel. Another experiment you can try is to sit in the sweet spot and use a “phantom center” by telling the receiver you have no center. Though not exact it will simulate having another M60 as a center. If the phantom center sounds good then for sure it’s the VP150 giving you the issues as you said it didn’t happen with the Klipsch.
I found that the VP150 couldn’t keep up with the quality of sound coming from my mains (M80s). Compared to the M80s the VP150 just sounded less dynamic and a little hollow. At first I switched to using a phantom center which worked great for just me in the sweet spot but not for other seats. I tried all the suggestions and tweaks except adding a second VP150 (one above and one below) and still found the SQ came up short compared to the M80s as one should expect. I followed Jakewash’s solution of using either a M22 or now an M80 center both of which work exceptionally well. Not sure if they would fit but fredk is, I believe, using dual M2 speakers above and below his screen with his M80 mains to good effect. If you could manage to fit one you might consider an M2 center.
Micah - I agree with you that my M80s also sound better in the 35Hz-80Hz range than the EP500 and I listen to lots of psytrance and other music with rapid tight bass. In my apartment the room was 19x19x8 and found that having multiple bass sources really helped even out the bass so I ran them large or small with a low crossover. Plus I only sat 6’ from them so I could feel the lower frequencies coming at me from them which was great for onscreen action.
Since I got my Onkyo 3007 and Audyssey seems to be working properly (didn’t seem to on my Denon) I have stayed with what the auto setup found, L/R M80s set to small and 40Hz center M80 set to small and 50Hz. So my M80s are still producing most of the 35Hz-80Hz range and everything sounds fantastic. From what I’ve read Audyssey applies better EQ to the LFE channel than any of the others. So for someone who’s mains are near walls they might benefit more from a higher crossover to get the better filter but for someone like me with room to get my M80s away from the walls I can’t even imagine using an 80Hz crossover. But like you say it’s all about personal taste and I look at the various configuration recommendations out there as great for people who don’t want to tweak but only a starting point for those who have the time and desire to get the most out of their systems.
Cheers,
Dean
