This is an issue I've battled with for a long time. When I had Maggies, I ran a phantom center and was very happy. Then I read on another forum about a dynamic compression issue that was triggered by most A/V receivers and pre/pros when you were running DD w/out a center and/or without surrounds. I ran some experiments on my own and it was pretty obvious that I was having this issue with my pre/pro. It didn't happen with DTS tracks, just DD. Well, I eventually gave in and bought a center.