I have found that the sound quality, when I'm listening to cd's, is better with the center channel turned off. Has anyone else found this to be true?

That's because you're getting a pure signal without any processing from your receiver. 3-Stereo makes the music come out mostly from the center speaker and uses the fronts as a backup or complement. Whereas in stereo mode you get the full-range of the music pumping through the fronts. I suggest u turn all processing of and the equalizer as well and you'll hear the music as the recording studio intended it to sound.

Most purests will recommend you listen to CD's in plain 2-channel stereo mode. No processing, if possible. Must admit it sounds best. An alternate DSP mode would be what some manufacturers call "5-channel stereo". On my current amp there's a nice "acoustic" DSP setting that sounds nice as well, while only using two speakers.

My Sony 333ES has what is called MUSIC DSP's, that use the rear surrounds, but not the centre channel. Depending on the cd and my mood, it can really sound great. But using the center channel on CD's sounds awful, IMHO.

Being an audiophile-type fella over here... you really cannot go better than a 2 channel configuration... with this type set-up, you can really really determine how well of a system that you have put together. You hear editors of audio magazines talking about depth, soundstage, dynamic range, spaciousness, etc... and their listening criteria is usually through 2 channel mode using the "direct in" (bypasses all digital processing and goes from direct analog into the amp stage). Give 2 channel a try, using a well mastered CD and see if ya like it...

John