Straight back means toward the rear side ? Not understood
Or maybe the B&W house sound? Are the suggested tweaks ways to mitigate what maybe inherent in the speakers?
Are you familiar with the terms “toe-in” and “off axis”?
I tend to think that discordance (the quality of sounding harsh and jarring because of a lack of harmony) is a chief contributor to unlistenable material rendered by loudspeakers.
In other words, it’s not the frequencies, per se, that assault the ears. Rather its a problem with how the sound is reproduced and propagated into the room. If something is musical and harmonious, then it is perceived as pleasant, no matter the frequency or volume (within reason).
A specific example from the perspective of a suggestion for mediating the issue (in addition to the speaker adjustment fiddling others have suggested): make sure your room is not overly bright, acoustically speaking. Also, make sure the points of first reflection on the side walls of your listening room are not exacerbating the issue.*
I find that the better the clarity and harmony of the signals arriving at my ears is, the less edgy and fatiguing “high energy”/high frequency material sounds, no matter the dBs at which it is played back.
See here for more information: * Early Reflection Points - GIK Acoustics
Good luck.
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Yes, I am familiar
So try listening with no toe-in. Or sit off axis and see if those changes make a difference.
I too am sensitive to peaks and high dynamics. They hurt my right ear if played too loudly.
Try toeing them out a bit, like has been suggested. Try sound absorption material, ie books, pillows, drapes. If you have another amp to try, or another source, ie CD, vinyl. Cable swaps, or upgrades can also help.
Your speakers are 40 years old. Haffler amps are bright , Onkyo preamp is bright, Denon DCD600 wasn’t a good player 40 years ago , used ones sell for $25. I’m surprised your ears aren’t bleeding!
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