In looking at the Stereophile measurements of the 802D, I see a couple of characteristics that could possibly contribute to "harshness" on female vocals.
http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1205bw/index4.html
As you can see, there is a local peak at 4 kHz. Too much energy at 4 kHz sounds harsh and edgy, and 4 kHz is right in the region where the ear is most sensitive. Here is a family of equal-loudness curves - where each curve dips the lowest is where our hearing is the most sensitive:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/eqloud.html
It gets worse. The crossover point is at 4 kHz, and in this region we transition from the 6" stiff-cone midrange (which will be beaming) to the 1" tweeter will have a very wide radiation pattern and so will be putting out a lot of excess energy into the reverberant field. Since the ear derives timbre from not only the first-arrival sound but also the reverberant energy, the 4 kHz range will be even further emphasized relative to the rest of the spectrum the farther back you listen and/or more reverberant your room.
Not done yet. Most speakers have the tweeter mounted on a baffle, which effectively limits the tweeter's radiation pattern to the front hemisphere (think of the baffle as a 180 degree horn in that frequency region). The B&W tweeter is mounted without a baffle, so its radiation pattern is close to omnidirectional at 4 kHz. The result is, relatively speaking, even more surplus reverberant energy in this region in comparison to the rest of the spectrum.
They probably image great, though.
Duke
dealer/manufacturer
http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1205bw/index4.html
As you can see, there is a local peak at 4 kHz. Too much energy at 4 kHz sounds harsh and edgy, and 4 kHz is right in the region where the ear is most sensitive. Here is a family of equal-loudness curves - where each curve dips the lowest is where our hearing is the most sensitive:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/eqloud.html
It gets worse. The crossover point is at 4 kHz, and in this region we transition from the 6" stiff-cone midrange (which will be beaming) to the 1" tweeter will have a very wide radiation pattern and so will be putting out a lot of excess energy into the reverberant field. Since the ear derives timbre from not only the first-arrival sound but also the reverberant energy, the 4 kHz range will be even further emphasized relative to the rest of the spectrum the farther back you listen and/or more reverberant your room.
Not done yet. Most speakers have the tweeter mounted on a baffle, which effectively limits the tweeter's radiation pattern to the front hemisphere (think of the baffle as a 180 degree horn in that frequency region). The B&W tweeter is mounted without a baffle, so its radiation pattern is close to omnidirectional at 4 kHz. The result is, relatively speaking, even more surplus reverberant energy in this region in comparison to the rest of the spectrum.
They probably image great, though.
Duke
dealer/manufacturer