Had a contractor here today and he’s traveling this weekend to Colorado to visit family. I mentioned RMAF in October and he chuckled and said don’t consider driving and there will be snow to deal with.
I’ll admit the sound is sometimes poor at shows, but the ones I’ve attended have been fun as I enjoy chatting with audio enthusiasts.
Nick, I have a few techniques/experiments that might help you. I did not read all the previous posts, so please forgive me if you have tried these.
1) Rotate the speakers just a smidgen, 1/16"/1/8" or so towards you and away from you to see how the sound reacts. Maybe also forwards and backwards as well. Just a tiny bit one way or the other may be enough to relieve the harshness. Another adjustment is spread the speakers slightly further apart, or closer together. Just a smidgen.
2) Move around the room near the floor, centered between the speakers, and find where the bass is
least/sound is thinner. Flop a pillow at that spot.
3) Different but similar to pt. 2. Try to find two spots near the floor, hopefully symmetrical to both your listening position and each speaker, and flop a pillow at each location. If we adjust the response reflections from one speaker, we want to do the same with the other speaker.
Just a thought, could be tedious, but an audiophile buddy Dan, has performed this to nice improvements.
Depending upon speaker, setup etc, one way may help and the other may exaggerate the condition you are experiencing. Also, other parameters will change a little as well. Maybe worth a try.
cheers and good luck with whichever you decide from suggestions in this string Nick.
steve