New Klipsch KL-650 center channel sounding too 'localized'. Anything I can do to widen its soundstage?

[SeanCJ]

I've recently changed from a magnepan front 3 (1.6 Qrs and CC3 center channel) that had a very large soundstage, to three Klipsch KL-650 THX Ultra 2 speakers.
The magnepan CC3 did a wonderful job of dispersing the center channel sound so voices seemed to come from exactly where the character was regardless of their location on the screen. However, they definately lacked the detail and dynamics the Klipsch have.
The Klipsch center channel is sounding a bit too 'localized', meaning I'm constantly drawn to the spot on the screen where the speaker is. Its becoming very distracting when the voice comes from the direct center of the screen when the character speaking is off center several feet.
Speaker is mounted at 1/2 way point vertical and horizontal. I have plans on lowering it to the bottom 1/3 of the screen, bringing it down closer to ear height.
I am sitting just barely right of center, about 13 feet from a 120" screen.
Are there other things I can do to help widen the center channel's sound field?
Should I move the speaker farther back behind the screen, currently about 3" behind the screen?
Should I move my seating farther back from the screen?
Should I experiment more with the front three speakers settings?
Any advice would be appreciated.
I've already committed to selling the maggies, so I'm hoping I can make these Klipsch sound like I want them too.

Here's some bad pics of my screen set up. For scope movies, I lower the image to the bottom of the screen and mask the top portion to hide the bare screen. The fabric you see will soon be covered by black velvet so it will 'disappear' when the lights go off. I raise it when watching standard 16:9 TV or 1.85:1 films.

Oh, my entire home theater is DIY made my yours truly. I built the cabinetry below to hold the components and there is DVD/CD storage behind all 6 doors.

[sfogg]

"Should I experiment more with the front three speakers settings?"

Yes,
it sounds like you maybe have the center channel a little louder then
L/R which will keep it from blending in as well and will pull things
more into the center. Try lowering the level of the center a little.

Also
if your receiver/pre-pro allows you to adjust the time alignment
(distance) settings while listening to material play music with strong
vocals and listen in DPLII Music and adjust the centers distance
forward/backwards till it really locks in with the rest of the stage.

Shawn

[Eskimo1]

I'm with Sfogg.. sounds like the CC is a little "hot"

You mentioned they are only 3" from the screen - if you've got the room, a few more inches back can only help things, but the manufacturer would know what distance has tested best.. Only a few of the "weave" screens worked well with very close distances, IIRC..

Bang up job on the setup, by the way!

[SeanCJ]

Thanks guys for the input and compliment!

Last night I fiddled with the speaker settings. I lowered power to the center channel and slightly increased power to the right and left. I also reconfigured the distance of each speaker. Unfortunately, not a big improvement, some yes, but not what I was hoping for. Dialogue still seems a bit too localized for my taste. I must just be too used to the dispersive nature of the magnepan CC3.
Tonight, I'm going to move my seating back in one foot increments to see if that helps some. I'll also move the center channel back a few more inches from the screen.

Oh, I built the screen using the shearweave 4500 material that reportedly has no combing filtering at all, so speakers can be really close to it.

Thanks again for the tips!

[Eskimo1]

Oh, I built the screen using the shearweave 4500 material that reportedly has no combing filtering at all, so speakers can be really close to it.

Disregard my mention of moving the speakers back from the screen then - Sheerweave is supposed to be THE stuff!

Though, moving it back from the screen can't hurt in your quest.

Did you use an SPL meter to match your levels initially? Might be worth a shot if you haven't..