B&W 703 - How to tame the highs?

I also have 703's and I'm experiencing the same problem as the original poster.

For certain types of music that don't involve too much high frequency information these speakers play wonderfully. A good example would be Eva Cassidy's Live a Blues Alley. For other recordings such as any Rock album that involves wailing guitars the music just starts to hurt the ears after couple of songs.

When it comes to using these speakers for HT purposes, I honestly can't find any fault - even if I try. It makes me wonder if designing speakers to reproduce movies and music requires a compromise in one to benefit the other.

But getting back to the original topic, I'm thinking of giving a pair of 805's a listen to see if their top end is smoother. I think the 703's are clinically revealing as opposed to musically revealing, that's how I justify the day&night difference the present on movies vs music.

I had 603S3 and had the same problem regardless of what kind of equipment I tried, so I got rid of them. Some people say you need to break-in for about 3 years. If someone has the patience to do that, it may be worth it. Unfortunately I didn't have that kind of patience.

When it comes to using these speakers for HT purposes, I honestly can't find any fault - even if I try. It makes me wonder if designing speakers to reproduce movies and music requires a compromise in one to benefit the other.

What you are discovering is Audio Compression...certain forms of music are highly compressed. Eva cassidy is not. Movies are not. This is why they sound good on your system.

Hyper compressed rock, pop and alternative is common these days and it will sound fatiguing. Switching to a less accurate speaker with laid back midrange and smooth warm sound may help...but it is a "band aid" not a cure...besides do you want to put a band-aid over the beautiful sounding Live at Blues Alley - just so you can play Metallica without having to cover your ears - the choice is yours...

See this Turn Me Up for more information.

Same prob here, I've just recently posted to find some suggestions for what to do to help with my 703's.

I've auditioned mine with a Classe CA2200 and very much liked them, but couldn't find a used one at the time.

Went with a Musical Fidelity A308CR Preamp and pair of Electrocompaniet AW220's and I'm thinking about replacing the amps.

It's not only the highs that bother me but the missing bass, at least in my system.

Interesting to hear that I'm not the only one who finds that Eva Cassidy sounds pretty good on the system, yet other albums I just can't bring myself to listen to.

Well, good luck with improving your sound and if you find something you really think helped please post it here.

Thanks

Speakers do not have to be overly warm or inaccurate to play compressed music without ensuing listening fatigue.
There are many better examples to prove the point.
I can mention just one, that I have in my system-
Silverline Bolero. It has Dynaudio Esotar 330 soft dome tweeter, that can hardly be described as "inaccurate".
No listening fatique there. It is very accurate and revealing as well.
If the speaker, B&W in this instance, is giving you listening fatigue- it is not good, don't blame the recording. You are in this hobby to enjoy the music and not to suffer poorly designed components.
The cure- SELL ASAP