The M60 is actually a little more laid back than the M80.
I can accept that some find Axioms offerings bright, but not harsh. There is something else at play here.
Can you give us the titles and labels for the reference recordings you find harsh? Can you also describe the room they are set up in? Are you in an apartment or a house? Lots of windows? Do you have wall coverings or are the walls bare...
Bright Sounding:
Billy Joel The Stranger
Elton John Elton John
Elton John Tumbleweed Connection
Roxy Music Avalon
Dire Straits Brothers In Arms
Sheryl Crow The Globe Sessions
I live in a house. I have hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings and the room is about 18w x 22d as best I recall without measuring. Lots of furniture, sofa, love seat, tables etc.
I usually listen somewhere between -25 and -18 not sure about the db level.
It seems it is most anything that has a lot of high range, especially female vocals like Sheryl Crow.
If I play Bela Fleck and the Flecktones "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" which is an mp3 (256k) d'loaded from Amazon it sounds amazing. Not a lot of upper range stuff and I use an HSU ULS-15 sub.
At someone's suggestion I did go in and check my tone and the treble was set at 0. If I turn it down to -5 or as far as it will go -6 some of the brightness goes away. I did use Audyssey.
Here is a screen shot of the FL levels but it doesn't mean alot to me, maybe you guys will get something from it.
