Hey, the only stupid question is the one that's NOT asked! Right!!

Right!!!

Anyway, we know what you mean by that.

There is a term though for what happens when a rear center speaker in 6.1 is too close to the middle and it gives a "false front" effect, the sound appears to be coming from the front instead of the back. I wonder if that's what the problem actually is?

Maybe the rears are too much in line wuth the fronts and might just require moving a bit more to the side?