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

Thiel 3.6 did not like the metal dome tweeter. 

I'm struck that this thread exploded in all the tedious controversy & name-calling so many threads do. WTF?

It's a pretty straightforward topic by OP. Here's my answer:

-- in the mid-'80s when Infinity was coming on like gangbusters, I bought one of their cheaper floorstanders w/planar tweeter & a 10" polypropylene woofer. Not only was this thing brighter than hell, but that woofer audibly "bounced" like a medicine ball hitting a trampoline. Awful speakers

-- and a couple years ago, in the dying twilight of my attempts to use powered monitors for music. I got a pair of Yamaha HS7 powered monitors modded by ZenPro. I burned them in faithfully, then put them in the desktop system where they sounded like ass immediately & forever. I didn't last 2 days--yanked 'em out & put back in whatever I had previously.

No amount of money paid is worth sonic suffering after...

ProAc are wonderful. Their true ribbon tweeter is sublime. Harbeths are easy to listen to but can be a bit boring, but certainly listenable. BTW the ML and a few others use the Heil AMT ( Air Motion Transformer) I’ve always found it a bit bright. Raidho are nice. Magico but very revealing and need the right everything to get them to sing. 

I found JM LAB Focal Stella Utopia upfront and bright. Head ached after 20 minutes every time.  Couldn’t be the amp Pass
Labs XA 100.8. 

Worst combo I've had--

Cerwin Vegas with Crown Amps--so bad totally unlistenable .

Almost as bad but never would buy.

Latest B+W 800 series-- like razors in the ears.

Von Schweikerts-- just dull.

Magicos- sounds like designed by and for a computer-hear them with Halcro Amps and rush for Root Canal for relief

Any ESL-yes sadly been there many times-bit of heaven and hell
they all fail at some time--got sick of saying a Prayer every time I turned them on. The great pity as they can perform superbly --when running

Caveat Emptor

T