My XML is attached. That table you show is currently set back to the stock 8 deg.
I had the idle timing set to 8 degrees and the stability control set to 4, but it didn't seem to make any difference so I just changed it back to stock values.

Do you think I should set the timing cells up to 1500rpm to 5-8 degrees. Rather than the stock 5-19 or whatever it is?

 

5 degrees timing is to low @ 1000rpm, then it takes a huge jump at 1500. I would run around 10 @ 1000rpm some people run even more than that. Then at 500 keep it the same value as the 1000rpm cells, that way if the rpm drops low it actually will resist dying/stalling. It's not going to hurt anything but it will feel more responsive.

Sorry for the crappy pics I'm doing this from my phone because my laptop has no internet connection right now.

 

Now I'm seeing your maf comp is not responding to major changes, you might want to consider reloading your rom or changing to an evo 8 rom. They have some patched 8 roms that work with evo 7's. You will have a lot more options with 9653.

 

Mines5 has a patched 9653 rom he is running in an evo 7 ECU, I'm sure he would be glad to share it with you if you messaged him.