Regarding your observation about the apparent image of the 180, I experienced the same thing with the 150v2, 160v4 and any Axiom bookshelf I tried. I couldn't fix the 150v2 no matter what. I go the 160v4 right under and against my 55" TV and that fixed it. It sounded as if voices came from the middle of the TV. The 160 was superior in terms of fidelity and polar coverage compared to the 150v2 by leaps and bounds.
That said, it didn't dawn on me how unnatural the 160 sounded until I put in the ALFRs and tried them without a centre. Never going back to a real centre!
