@cmach,
Ha ha, I agree, it always feels good to know that you are not the only one. I feel that this is a generic problem. But folks like us are super-critical about our placement and that is why it bothers us so much. Over last night and tonight I spent an additional 1 hour and I think I have got the placement more to my liking. Thanks to the so many suggestions from JohnnyR, @ctsooner,
@itzkak1969
and others. My final position stands at 74" from back wall, 40 1/2" from side wall with 100" between the speakers. All distances from the center of the tweeter. The speaker, now, does not face the listening position "directly". Instead they are angled slightly so that I cal see a very small sliver of the inner walls, such that, if a line were to be extended from the tweeters of both speakers, to the listening position, they would cross about a feet behind the listener's ears.
Listening to Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic" and the vocals seems dead center. One observation is that these are absolutely not analytical speakers. Since these speakers are new to me, I start listening with the intention to experience the "sound staging and imaging". But this speakers does not allow me to focus on that. It creates such a coherent sound that, you look at the music as a whole instead of trying to identify the individual instruments/vocals/effects/etc. I love the guitars and the tight bass. I think this is the bass I was looking for. It provides the strong foundation of the musical experience.
Just finished Steely Dan. Next album is Faith, George Michael. Vocals are centered and I have no issues. Would like to hear from you when you get that "lock on vocals" in your system. I will update my system in a few days. Between job, kids and activities it is becoming more challenging to do this. Do post your system pics, if you get a chance; would love to see your system.