For the benefit of those who are looking for a center, I'm posting my thoughts.
My MLP is pretty much in the center of a 4200 cu. ft. room dedicated to A/V. I sit 14' from my M80v2, 13.5' from the VP160v4, 13' from each side QS8v2 and 12' from each rear QS8v2. The EP800v4 is 13' away almost under one of my right sides. The 160 is up high enough that it's tweeter is aligned with the tweeters of my M80s. I'd categorize the room as somewhat lively but not overly so. There's no wild ringing from a hand clap but it's not dead-sounding either.
I'm powering everything with the last great receiver Onkyo made - the tx-nr818. All speakers are calibrated within 1.5 dB of 0. A more than comfortable listening level for well-recorded movies and music is -15 dB on the Onk's gain knob. -10 dB is about as loud as I'd want to go to not risk hearing damage. I watched Bright yesterday which I consider as having a very high production value including the audio. -15 on the gain knob didn't leave me wanting for more. It sounded like a movie theater with better bass.
My previous center was a VP150 v2. BTW, VP stands for vocal point. My VP150 has found a home at my good buddy's where it has replaced a small Mirage. The VP150 is leaps and bounds better sounding than the Mirage at his place. I will say however the Mirage has better off-axis response but his room is narrow and therefore off-axis response is not important.
I lived with my 150 for 11 years but I can't say I've been happy. Rather, I have tolerated it. I've been patiently sitting on the sidelines watching what Andrew and Ian have been cooking up and how they've been cooking it. I know Andrew is a very talented engineer who worked with Ian Paisley; the 160 was the first product he worked on at Axiom back in 2010. With my renewed confidence in Ian's and Andrew's abilities, the v4 tweeter introduced 3 years ago, improved cross-over, improved cabinet stiffness, improved mid-range driver baffle, improved drivers, Black Friday bucks, my loyalty discount, a trade in for my old sub and a very generous offer from Ian, I decided to go for the 160 and 800 (to replace my 600v2). I felt it was time to end my torture and support what I feel is the most innovative company in audio today.
I couldn't be any happier with the 160v4. It's everything a centre should be. The horizontal response is almost flat +/- 45 deg from the normal. Up to 80 degrees from normal it's still usable and sounds better than the VP150v2 when listening dead-on. The 160 sounds the same from 6' away to 16' away. I've even listened +/- 20 degrees vertically and there was negligible change in response. The detail across the entire spectrum is fantastic including the bass which is tight, deep and controlled. I have not heard any breakup from the 160; I can't say the same for the 150. With the 150, I found myself turning it off and listening to a phantom center. The 160 sounds natural for both movies and DPLII music. BTW my Onk found the cut-off for the 160 to be 40 Hz (same as my M80s) but I know I can get usable bass down to 32 Hz from this centre in my space. I left the setting alone because it sounds awesome.
With the 160, Axiom has nailed the center speaker. There is nothing more to be done. While I have not heard the 150v4, it's the same driver configuration as the 150v2 so I'd caution buying it. Instead, buy the 160v4 and be happy knowing you have a well-engineered speaker you'll be happy with the rest of your life.
