I heard the Revels at Ambrosia in Beverly Hills sourced by a Meridian CD player with Rowland amp and had the exact same feeling, "uninvolving". Also I'd add "sterile", "cold" and "clinical" to the description. I was with two other people that felt the exact same way. We then substituted $400 Acoustic Energy 300's which sounded much nicer - bass suffered but we all liked it better. Try substituting in some other speakers and see what happens.
Kevin
Kevin