B&W 802D1 - How can I tame the brightness?

Setup could be an issue, but I had even worse preamp / amp combo before

Arcam CD72T cd player

Bryston BP26 preamp

Classe CAM-200 monoblocks

@OP It does sound like you have a room and setup problem - see https://www.stereophile.com/content/bw-802d-loudspeaker-measurements - coupled with the fact that your amplification is not the most synergistic match for 802Ds.

BTW, apropos the post above, while B&W make a big hoo ha about being used in Abbey Road, they are not studio monitors. Having owned a pair myself for hi fi purposes - and sold them due to their inaccurate frequency response - they are a very long way down the list of speakers I would use as studio monitors.

I had the same issue. For me, the problem was the binding posts. When I connected my speaker cables to the binding posts on my ProAc's the problem went away.

Tekton Double Impact loudspeakers will blow your musical mind - and leave you with lots of cash to put towards high quality sources.

When i'm setting up speakers and they're bright or have that glare in the midrange I pull them away from the first reflection point. In my tv room I'll pull the in front of the monitor a little more than usual and if I can't get them away from the sidewall enough I use more extreme toe in. Looking at response curves for bright speakers, not necessarily B&W, jagged measurements evan fairly slight can cause trouble in the wrong room so maybe some digital room correction software? good luck