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

Anybody remember Speaker Lab? They made DIY speaker kits. Their top-of-the-line model was called the Model K. It was a giant corner horn speaker modeled after the Klipshorn. A buddy of mine had four of them, one in each corner of his 10x12 bedroom and driven by a Phase Linear 400 watt amp. I don’t know if they were fatiguing or not. I couldn’t stand to stay in there long enough to find out. If the room is rockin’, don’t bother knockin’.

I am amazed at how many people actually bought and paid for so many speakers they didn’t like, some posters had that experience with several. My first thought was they didn’t do their homework or didn’t do a proper job of auditioning or both. The expectation that a speaker will perform in one’s own room (with his own electronics) in the same way as in a dealer’s showroom is recipe for disappointment. I honestly think one can make almost any speaker (that one liked the basic signature of) work well in his room with proper set up, system matching and acoustic treatments. If I was disappointed in the performance of several reputable speakers in my room, I might well blame the room instead of the speakers.