Bright High End Speakers = Bad Room?

In an anechoic chamber, typically what we are showing is the on axis response typically tailored to be perfectly flat.

The room response is a combination of the direct and reflected. Higher frequencies are typically absorbed more by things in the room, even just painted drywall, but they travel farther distances, so also attenuated more by the air. Add in the highest frequencies tend to be the most directional, so it may be flat on-axis at 20KHz, but 10db down at some angle off axis, and room response is sum off on axis and reflected off axis.

The room might be the problem. Every room sounds different.  Interesting discussion. I have 4 two channel systems in 3 different rooms.  Moving the same speakers ...my  B & W 703s and Monitor Audio Silver 10s and a couple of others to different  rooms yields very different tonal balances.  Moving the speakers to a different wall in the basement STUDIO room yields a very different balance as well as radically different imaging.  The room could be the issue.  I haven't found my B & W 703s to be too bright and I don't think all "high end" speakers are too bright. I have heard some that were ...."too cool" for my taste but most sounded articulate and wonderful.  Some cheaper units are very brittle and hard.  "HEARD THEM AT THE SHOW" is not a reliable judgment of any product. Until you have the units in your room with your components you really won't  know if you will like the sound or not. Years ago, my dealer would allow me to audition a product in my room before a final decision to purchase was made. I didn't like a very expensive abd beautiful set of Thiels I auditioned. They sounded a bit bright and, to me, too analytical. Others loved them.  I didn't have enough guts from my power amp ....so perhaps that's why I didn't like them.  Who knows? If you don't like B & Ws or a "bright" speaker try something else. (I like the Monitor Audio Silver 10s better!) Enjoy the music!

Kenjit quoted me: "But there was one group who consistently preferred a flat response: Recording engineers. To them, speakers are a tool, and in general the more revealing the better. "

And then he asked: "Do you have a link to the study that mentions this? Thanks" 

I thought it was in the third edition of his book but I just skimmed all of the chapters that seemed promising and couldn’t find it. Nor is the index helpful. If I can find my copy of the first edition I’ll look there. My recollection is that Toole was the source, if/when I come across it I’ll let you know. 

When I have been asked to design custom studio monitors by the acoustician who designed the studio, he has specified "flat on-axis response" as the target. 

Duke

I often get the impression that a good deal of the members on this forum appreciate to be fooled by a speaker being non-bright on bright recordings, that is quite rolled-off in the highs. They seem to call it musical. And name other speakers more true to the recording bright. Then there are speakers that are more bright than they actually should be, which may be fine as a working tool identifying problems in a recording. The end result of course a lot depending on the room and the listening distance. 

Speakers that are very 'revealing' are often considered to be bright. 'Bright' speakers have become something to fear and avoid. I refer to many of them as 'clear'. Padding a speaker down in an effort to flat line on a chart can/will soften the sound by removing detail. High end audio is high resolution. If the speaker is capable of sounding natural at a high resolution then I find it to be wonderful clarity. Why remove detail that you've worked so hard to attain? However, it will be critical of poorly made recordings. Over processed music out of a high resolution speaker can and will sound edgy. Good recordings are amazingly clear and sound incredible when done right. 

Good quality headphones are extremely clear. I began use them as a baseline for the clarity of my speakers. This put me on the 'bright side' of neutral and I much prefer it.