Re direct 2-ch stereo comparision of M22/sub vs M60/no-sub -- no I didn't do that. My time was limited and I focused only on multichannel. I did briefly have a stereo M22/sub config, and it sounded very good.
Re crossover, for DTS/DD 5.1 material I used the RX-V1400 internal crossover at 80Hz, with M22s and M60s set to "small". I tried setting the M60/VP150 to "large", and it seemed slightly less optimal.
With SACD material (which means I can't use the amp's crossover, EQ, speaker size, speaker distence, or calibration), I set these (where available) using the menus of the Sony DVP-NC685V player. It has a fixed crossover at 120Hz (of unknown slope), and no way to set speaker distence. I manually set speaker levels with the Radio Shack meter. I tried setting the M60s to "large" and "small" -- in this case it sounded better on "large", even with the sub. I don't know why -- maybe the fixed crossover.
Despite the theoretical SACD player limitations, good multichannel material (whether DTS/DD 5.1 or SACD) sounded fantastic on the M60/VP150/QS8/STF-2 config. The Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon SACD, Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road SACD, and Eagles Hotel California DVD-A all sounded fantastic. It was almost as if I'd never heard these before, it was so improved.
When you have a decent system the source material quality becomes much more obvious. And by that I don't mean SACD vs CD, but the original source material quality and how much care was exercised during the multichannel remix. Wasn't Dark Side of the Moon originally quad? Maybe that's why it sounds so good on multichannel today.
Re your wife not liking music with the M60s/sub, at least in my listening I liked it a lot. It seemed to add that extra bit of impressive authority down low, without being boomy or artificial. However all my listening was from the sweet spot, not beyond that. I liked it well enough I'm upgrading from an STF-2 to a VTF-3 Mk2, intended for both HT and music.
