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

My 802 D2 was a little tight and sharp on the top end it wasn’t bad. I did what Bill Steveson suggested about 5 years ago. I used 2 JL Audio E 112 sub woofers with a JL Audio CR-1 and the system sounds great for my ears. It took me a while to get  the subs positioned correctly but it was worth it my room is 14’ x 26’. 

Well, one could always make a steel cage to house the 802s - a bit like Roksan did with the original Darius loudspeakers :))

BTW, joking aside, studio monitors usually have a specific orientation unless they are symmetrical such as in a d'apolito configuration e.g. many Focals, or where they mount the tweeter beside the midrange as in the Neumann KH 310.

I've never seen anyone use a pair of Yamaha NS 10s upside down in the studio - and that is a speaker that defines "bright".

I’m gonna get trashed for this, but damn, it works!  
The 802’s are equipped to biwire.  Single wire them instead, using the woofer input, the lower pair.  Connect a jumper between the upper binding post ground (minus, or black) and the lower binding post ground.  Instead of using a jumper between the two positive terminals, use a 2 ohm, 10 watt resistor. This will lower the output of the midrange and tweeter drivers by a small amount.  Too much?  Use a smaller value resistor, they’re available in increments of ohms.  I suggest a high quality resistor such as those by Dale, Caddock, or Vishay if you like the effect.  Resistors are comparatively cheap and using them won’t harm anything and is easily reversible and amenable to experimentation.  Just so you all know, Wilson offers the option of switching external resistors to tailor the high frequencies to taste as does Magnepan. In fact, any speaker that offers high frequency tailoring uses some variation of this method.

I fought a brightness battle with my B&W 801 Matrix speakers. I then fought a similar battle with my Wilson Sasha 2s. I now love my Rockports. Save yourself the battles. Sell them and find a sound you love.

+1 find a sound that you love.  A speaker that will draw you into the music, a joyful place like no other.  Move on, this one ain't it.