Stuart, adjusting the DPLII parameters can improve the effect with some CDs. I don't care for panorama, which sends some direct frontal sound to the surround speakers, and leave it off. The center width adjustment at one extreme sends nothing to the center channel and puts that material into the left/right speakers, creating a "phantom" center which might actually sound a little better to someone sitting exactly in the middle. Generally it should be left in the middle of its range. The one that you didn't mention, the dimension control, is the one that can be the most useful. It varies the level of the ambient material which has been steered out of the front speakers and into the surrounds. By increasing the loudness of the surrounds, it can in effect move you back in the hall by increasing the amount of ambient reflected sound in relation to the direct front sound. To some extent this can compensate for an extremely closeup recording which contains relatively little ambience in the mix(e.g. many pop recordings)but can't create something which isn't there. Experiment.
