You may not like this answer, but I think you should speak with a decent audio dealer who can help you address these issues. They can help you isolate the cause of your problems with the system. Here, you'll only get well-meaning guesses. If you want mine, I'll wager you're sitting fairly close to the speakers and listening at loud levels. Try turning it down a bit. Also, it's a fact of life that many CD are recorded with harsh, up-front vocals to sound good on car radios, etc. Nothing really you can do about that, other than changing what you listen to. Well, it's only my guess.
Paradigm Studio 60 V5 Fingernails on Chalkboard
The highs have an edge that hurts my ears, especially female voices (e.g. old joni mitchell, Emmy Lou Harris, etc. I have a Denon AVR 1709 80 W/Ch home theater amp. Could the amp be the problem? It's not room placement - I've moved them all over the room, and it's not interference - it happens even when I only have one speaker plugged in. If it is the amp, what should I replace it with? I spent all my $ on the speakers, assuming the amp I have would work out. I have the speakers for sale on Audoigon but would like to keep them if I can find an affordable solution. Thanks!