The room might be the problem. Every room sounds different. Interesting discussion. I have 4 two channel systems in 3 different rooms. Moving the same speakers ...my B & W 703s and Monitor Audio Silver 10s and a couple of others to different rooms yields very different tonal balances. Moving the speakers to a different wall in the basement STUDIO room yields a very different balance as well as radically different imaging. The room could be the issue. I haven't found my B & W 703s to be too bright and I don't think all "high end" speakers are too bright. I have heard some that were ...."too cool" for my taste but most sounded articulate and wonderful. Some cheaper units are very brittle and hard. "HEARD THEM AT THE SHOW" is not a reliable judgment of any product. Until you have the units in your room with your components you really won't know if you will like the sound or not. Years ago, my dealer would allow me to audition a product in my room before a final decision to purchase was made. I didn't like a very expensive abd beautiful set of Thiels I auditioned. They sounded a bit bright and, to me, too analytical. Others loved them. I didn't have enough guts from my power amp ....so perhaps that's why I didn't like them. Who knows? If you don't like B & Ws or a "bright" speaker try something else. (I like the Monitor Audio Silver 10s better!) Enjoy the music!
Bright High End Speakers = Bad Room?
Long time lurker, new poster and diving right in.
I have noticed on the threads, a lot of what are considered high spend speakers, high end B&W's particularly, but not exclusively, being faulted for being "bright", a viewpoint typically garnered from "heard them at a show", etc.
I would posit that the reason this is, not exclusively of course, but in many cases, is due to a conscious decision in how these speaker companies balance on/off axis energy (or an unconscious decision due to the space they were voiced in).
Whether it is assumed you are going to have more off-axis energy due to reflection/diffusion and/or assumed you are going to have less off axis energy due to absorption, if you don't implement your room accordingly, you are going to find the speaker bright or dark versus a speaker, even a low end one, that is voiced in a room more like the typical partially or poorly treated room.
Thoughts?
I have noticed on the threads, a lot of what are considered high spend speakers, high end B&W's particularly, but not exclusively, being faulted for being "bright", a viewpoint typically garnered from "heard them at a show", etc.
I would posit that the reason this is, not exclusively of course, but in many cases, is due to a conscious decision in how these speaker companies balance on/off axis energy (or an unconscious decision due to the space they were voiced in).
Whether it is assumed you are going to have more off-axis energy due to reflection/diffusion and/or assumed you are going to have less off axis energy due to absorption, if you don't implement your room accordingly, you are going to find the speaker bright or dark versus a speaker, even a low end one, that is voiced in a room more like the typical partially or poorly treated room.
Thoughts?