@jetter it 100% did occur with my first speakers, just not quite as much. These two speakers have a much different presentation in the mid and higher frequencies. My old speakers sound muddy by comparison. I think this is why the problem is more pronounced with my new speakers.
To rule out that I had a problem with my gear, I did try swapping speaker positions, swapping the cables, leaving the amp speaker cables as is and swapping the cables at the speaker end. No matter what I could still hear the issue on the right side.
Oh, and I even thought maybe I needed to get my hearing checked! But I was somewhat relieved when my wife heard the same flaw that I did, and I didn’t even explain to her what the issue is other than I told her to pay attention to the stereo image. And I don’t hear any issues wearing headphones etc.