OK Audiogon, help me out please

@justlance  

What is the rest of your equipment, what is your room like?  What kind of music do you listen to?  Do you play it loud?  or at low volumes?  etc....

All of these things will influence what you hear.  Both speaker brands are solid and well respected with good customer support.  Both their "house sounds" are clean/clear/ precise and not overly heavy on the base.   And from my own experience with MA, they can be sensitive to the electronics feeding them.  The SF models I have heard, see to roll off the highs a little more than the MA's.

So, +1 on grislybutter recommendation, but don't dismiss the other electronics either.  It's all about the synergy of the whole system, including the room itself.

my 2 cents.... (adjusting for inflation, is that now 6 cents...)

@ justlance     11x11 and I'm guessing 8 foot ceiling max.  Any room treatments?  Carpet, bass traps, book cases or other diffusion/absorbation (especially at the 1st reflection points, heavy curtains for the window, a lot of furniture, etc.?  

A room that small, with no or minimal room treatment, could be the source of the harshness, as well as some boomy base.  So if you might want to look into that first.

And I agree with @dayglow, the MA 500 Gold's might be too big. The MA 300's (either Gold or Silver) might be better suited for the room.

And watch the used listings.  There are a lot of great speakers at your budget point.

@justlance   Hope things go well with the health issues in the family.  I been there and it is never fun.

@chrisoshea   If that earlier post was aimed at me, I know bass not base... it was a typo.  I guess just like spelling my screen name as Jeffbia....  LOL