Which speakers did you find bright, fatiguing or just disappointing in some way?

I noticed one major speaker brand that has not been mentioned in this thread of infamy and that is Sonus Faber.  I have only heard them twice in stores but they sounded very good to me in the store.  I also like Wilson speakers.  I have heard Wilson speakers in someone’s home and I liked the sound. True story:  I had a work buddy in the late 80s who had Thiel 2 2s with Spectral gear.  They sounded very good.  I was using planars at the time and his Thiels were the first box speaker that didn’t sound like a box to me. 13 years passed before I bought my first Thiel speakers and I bought them used because every time I auditioned them in a store they were too bright, strident and sometimes I thought they would drill a hole in my head.   I wanted something more dynamic than planars but I couldn’t find the right speaker.  Based on my buddy’s system I finally bought some used CS3.6s to try.  It took a couple of amp and cable changes but they finally made me very happy.  A few years later I got the CS6’s.  No fatigue issues here but they are finicky about source components and cables.  

Hi vegasears,
I understand what you are saying.  The CS6's do not have that chest thumping bass if that is what you are looking for.  I grew up in the 70s when we played hard rock loud and fuzzy and the drums kicked you in the gut.  These days if I play Black Sabbath or some hard rock record it is almost comical because the music is so clear and refined.  The Pass amps make for strong bass but it is still not like Wilsons, for example.  This may be heresy to some but I added subwoofers which takes the lows down deep and adds some oompf but still not that sharp kick in the gut.  I don't think subs go high enough for that.  If I crank it up real real loud the bass can get strong but I'm scared something's going to blow and I don't like it that super loud.  86 dBa average is very loud to me these days.  I would say that the Thiels are not the best hard rock speaker out there but they excel at Jazz, vocals and are good with classical.