I'm considering putting a wall-mounted TV and in-wall speakers (front l/r, center) into my family room. The framing of the wall makes things interesting and limits the types and locations of components I can use. In this room, the primary listening/viewing location is about where the camera is positioned (about 13ft from the front wall) in the "finished" picture. The room is 14.5ft wide and the window is an 8ft-wide window. I've included pictures of both the finished room and the room before drywall went up. The far wall is an external, load-bearing wall framed with 2x6 lumber.

The TV in the pictures is scaled to a 58" screen (57" total width) and the speakers are about 28" by 8".

The first limiting factor is the stud bay to the left of the window - this is only about 9" wide and pretty much dictates the horizontal position of the left front speaker, as well as its width. I've found some options that will fit there, so I think I'm past that problem.

The main thing I'm struggling with at this point is what to do about a center channel speaker. There is only 14" of space between the studs, and there is a stud directly behind the center of the TV location. I'd like to do what I have shown in the "with TV" versions of the pictures, but this would involve cutting the stud that lies behind the center of the TV. I don't like (aesthetically or acoustically) the idea of having the center channel speaker off-center, and I'm not sure if I can safely mess with the studs behind the TV (even though I don't see how they could be bearing a load with the window above them).

What options should I be considering for center-channel speaker location/mounting?

Oh, and my usage of this room is pretty much for everything - movies, TV, and console gaming. I know the TV isn't dead-center in the room, and the speaker placement isn't optimal for the ideal 5.1/7.1 setup - I'm just trying to work with the space I have and find the best compromise.