Awful sound from B&W's: Break In needed?

Yes, give them time. If B&W is still using Kevlar drivers, it is pretty stiff out of the box. They also use a rubber material for the surrounds instead of foam, which needs to loosen up.

I own 5 pairs of B&W speakers (out of many more pairs). None of them sound bright and harsh...

B&W speakers also tend to be pretty neutral. So while some say change the speakers again and don't mess with the system (maybe); you could be spending the rest of your life looking for the right speakers to fit what may be a harsh sounding system to start with. What prompted the change in the first place?

It could even be many things in combination, including the sources, cables, even crappy electric power. Your favorite CD for demos may even be poorly recorded, and the old speakers masked it.

I agree with Sugarbrie. I have had 3 sets of B&W speakers and none sounded bright or harsh.

A friend brought over his Signature 805's one time and I liked them so much I sold my speakers and purchased a set. For the first 4 days they weren't even close to his and if I would not have heard his first I would of thought I made a mistake. I let them play 24 hours a day and if nobody was home, I'd play them loud.

Do make sure they are wired correctly; I had this problem with a pair of tannoys. Very harsh treble and brittle sound that made them sound like crap. The midrange was very strange and basically I hated the speaker. Found out my amp was sending out a reversed polarity signal.... Reversed all the speaker wires and wow, my speakers were alive for the first time.

I don't have the amp anymore, but it was a NAD.

I was just going to post that you should check the polarity or phase of your system as Rtilbury writes. If the speakers are out of phase, the sound will be harsher than normal.

Check every component. Many preamps are out of phase.

What did you have before that wasn't harsh though was lacking in some way?I never thought that B&W was garsh or strident (the wayu I an many others foun much Thile stuff is too brite).You may need break in but if the impression is this strong it's more I thin that it's system matching (you liked them in the store you bought them)But maybe it's your gear,your room ,or simply you were wrong about fisrt impression you had at store.Ask store about problem fi you ca reurn with re-stock fee or a trade fro soemthing else you think ,again,sounds good in the store.But you get it home and more bnad sound occurs you 1)have a problem with your electronics 2)have problem with room 30 are anal (overly) about what you should be getting for your investment 3) You are simplay psychotic.Nut the dealer should be there to solve problems and make you happy so talk