Mcintosh MQ112

Who gives a crap what others think about how they sound?
 If you like them,that’s all that matters...
I'm not a big fan of Eq's,IMO all you are doing is masking the root of the issue..
 Measurements from reviews show they can sound forward & bright with the wrong amplification..I would say if they are sounding bright to you,warm them up with a tube preamp & look at your cables..
 Room acoustics can also make some speakers sound bright,perhaps some treatments might help...Good luck..

FWIW, my 802 D Diamonds are neutral, not bright at all.  You need to work on setup.  As a quick place to start, play with speak toe in.  Start with no toe in at all.  You might find Paul McGowan's book on speaker set up helpful from his series The Audiophile's Guide.  Another option would be to seek the help of someone to help you optimize your system in your home.  I can assure you that your speakers are excellent when properly set up.

If using an EQ makes your listening more enjoyable then use one. But i would try something less expencive to try, like the Schiit Audio EQ's they are clean enough and work well to let you know if an EQ is something for you. And wont cost more then a couple hundred bucks. 

The brightness might depend on the source material.  I usually find that good recordings do not sound bright at all.   What preamp do you have ?  On perceived bright recordings, maybe, just adjust the preamp tone controls ?  ie.  one or two clicks down on the treble and one or two clicks up on the bass.  

@glennewdick Wrote:

If using an EQ makes your listening more enjoyable then use one.

I agree!

@onehorsepony Wrote:

Before tossing them aside, what do you feel about adding a Mcintosh MQ112 equalizer after my preamplifier?

I would say good idea,  I use a White Instrument 4100 EQ ten bands per channel.

Mike