Many thanks for the advice (and patience!) You might have saved me some money.
I'll certainly try to adjust the speaker placement and direction, etc., as you suggest, although I haven't much flexibility. I can't move them fore and aft more than a few inches, due to limited space and spouse's tendency to crash into things. I can move them a few feet side to side, although even then I have problems with blocking various components' IR receivers, and obviously toe them in and out, so I'll try what I can within those limitations. My listening space is so far suboptimal it's almost funny. The ground floor of my house is basically a square box. A bit less than half of it, at a guess, is taken up by the kitchen in one corner, with the rest of the space in an L around it. I have my TV and audio components against one of the kitchen walls, with a couch against the opposite wall and not much more than six or so feet away from the front of the audio component towers. Kefs sit in front of towers, on either side of 42" TV. Some way to right of couch are front door, entrance 'hall' and stairs, to left is other leg of L - some furniture, glass patio doors, etc. D'you think some sound deadening on the wall above the couch or along the stairs might help the soundstage? Any other room treatments I could try?
I'm curious about bi-amping. Would you call using two monoblocks, such as two Marantz MA-6100s or a GFA 2535 (two 535s in a single case) 'passive' bi-amping, or were you applying that just to using a single stereo power amp like the Belles?
(On the Yammie - you're right that it's quite a luxe unit for the price, especially when the price was $150. I listen to music either in Pure Direct mode which, as you say, takes just about everything but the main speakers out of the signal path, or in Direct Stereo, which includes a crossover to the sub but not much else.)
