B&W speakers sounding very harsh?

Hi vgundam21, were you able to fix the 702 harsh sound?

Agree with the suggestion of using only the main L & R for music. Using the same setting for the subwoofer for both music & movies is doomed to disappoint; most subs can do either, but not both without different settings. There should be user presets on your Marantz that changes settings (low/high pass & level) depending upon the source and/or type of source, ie 2.0 vs multi-channel.
Some people find audio over HDMI is a bit edgy compared to S/PDIF, but most do not. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

I am not in the camp that BW speakers are bright.

We can't really make blanket statements about the B&W house sound from the Matrix series to today.

Truth is their curves have changed somewhat.

Best

E

I am not in the camp that BW speakers are bright.  They reveal the source material, that's what they were designed for. I collect the Matrix series and have the 801 S3 with Northcreeks, 803 S2 which I just picked up, 804 and 805's.  I read many posts said these speakers are bright.  I find them great and depends on the source material and how well one has matched components in their system. A neutral system will show poorly recorded material as bright, the next piece of music can be smooth and another terrible.  CD or vinyl same (I don't stream).  I went into a store and listened to 805 D3 that was hooked up to a high end solid state amp.  It was brutal.  Had to leave the room.  The same store had an 804 D3 hooked up in another room and it sounded fantastic. It's all about synergy and what one puts together.  No different than equipment, one SACD player on one preamp sounds excellent, unlistenable on another one.  So I have matched components to my taste and likes (important).  This is my experience your experience may be different. The beauty of these older BW they can be had for a fraction of new speaker price.  I would love to pick up some of the newer ones but outside of my current budget.  I don't buy only because of budget, not sound quality.  I think BW makes great speakers, old and new.

If it doesn't sound reasonably good when you first get it, no amount of break-in or burn-in will transform a sow's ear into a silk purse.

On the other hand, if it already sounds pretty good from the get-go, things will likely improve further.

I think OTHERS have demonstrated several time by comment alone, they, cannot hear certain things and or usually HAVEN'T been around enough equipment to tell the difference.

BTW there are ZERO 24 hour cable reports.. weeks per pair minimum just to settle and somewhat break in.. Months is a more accurate.

I think OTHERS have demonstrated several times by comment alone, they, can hear certain things THAT CAN BE EXPLAINED BY NORMAL PHYSICAL CONDITIONS and HAVE been around AND DESIGNED enough equipment to tell the difference.

Here's a 30 minute cable report from about 2003  ieLogical Audiophilia Redux - after I'd officially retired from professional audio.

IF the Break In Brigade is correct, their systems always suck as everything is always changing. I feel sorry for them not enjoying their systems as they pine in anticipation.

The equipment is run in at the factory as most defects show up immediately. By the time it gets to the customer it is good to go with the exception of some speakers like ESLs and planars that will loosen up a little and the diaphragms equilibrate. Perhaps a few cartridges.

Back to your problem. Your description is a bit vague but it sounds like we are dealing with either sibilance or distortion. Sibilance is easy to stop. If your Marantz has EQ capability just drop 3000 to 4000 Hz a couple of dB and it will magically disappear. If it does you have your answer if it does not we have a distortion issue. If the impedance of the speakers drops too low you might be overloading the amps power supply in which case the only solutions are, don't play so loud or get a new amp that can handle it. Does this problem go away when you lower the volume?

Well when you learn the difference between Break-in (anything BUT valves or tubes) and Burn-in (valves and tubes) then you might be able to offer a suggestion without showing YOUR ignorance about Breaking in equipment.

500+ hours of BREAK-IN for teflon caps. 1000 hours of misery in some cases.  75 or so reports from about 130 customers over and over.. CUSTOMERS mate not frat boy chat in the halls. 1975-2004. I built a few pairs and sets of cabinets. Usually with ribbons or planars or both. 
I liked TNT and a few surplus caps but they were all teflon. 

It takes DC to break in teflon caps, plain and simple, that tiny tickle when firing up is all they get until the caps turn that wonderful tan color.

Everything takes time to settle and break in. The wood, VC drivers, cabinet insulation, dielectric/construct settling.

Every show I've ever gone to, the best in show always brought well conditioned cables and the equipment was well into its service life.  The stuff that sounds like frying eggs, sizzling bacon and BOOMY BS usually got their just reviews..

The "Its perfect out of the box" bunch is fine.

The fact is it just gets better..

I know all cables sound the same, there is no prefer direction, any ol fuse will do, cable cookers do nothing, contact enhancers don't work, ear plug don't work above 130db and horns rules. Thought I do agree Horns CAN rule.

People are not ignorant, delusional or anything else. OTHERS inability to hear. Not, "hear a difference". JUST HEAR at all! Is on full display.

I think OTHERS have demonstrated several time by comment alone, they, cannot hear certain things and or usually HAVEN'T been around enough equipment to tell the difference. 

BTW there are ZERO 24 hour cable reports.. weeks per pair minimum just to settle and somewhat break in.. Months is a more accurate.

Regards

+1 ieales! This "burn-in" stuff gets repeated ad nauseum by the ignorant!

Ozzy summed it up best. B&W’s greatly overemphasizes the top end. I own a pair.
Thank goodness for tone controls. I have treble pulled WAY back. At higher volume the sizzling returns. My next speaker purchase I’m going for a dark speaker. The older I get the more I appreciate a neutral sound. 

I think everyone here would agree that trying to grade out a system at 50 hours is foolish. All new components, speakers, cables... need 2,3 or 4 times that much time to effectively burn in to produce their true sound.

Utter nonsense

 I'll throw in my two cents. I think everyone here would agree that trying to grade out a system at 50 hours is foolish. All new components, speakers, cables... need 2,3 or 4 times that much time to effectively burn in to produce their true sound. I run McIntosh gear with 805d3's and have zero brightness issues. As an example of my above statement, I just received a new Black Dragon USB cable yesterday (for another system) and just started burning it in today on my two channel system. This is the same USB cable I've been running for a couple of years and I love the sound. Well, immediately upon turning on the system with the new cable everything sounded thin (not bright) with no depth. It even affects the sound quality of the REL T7x subwoofer. If I didn't know (from past experience) things were going to drastically improve over the next 200 hours I'd be in panic mode myself. I'd recommend running in your system for a week or so 24/7 and then see where you are at. I'm sure it will be drastically better than where you are today. Good luck. 

850cc

As a past owner of the 700 series the sibilants (s-sounds) are due to the midrange/crossover they use. There is a peak somewhere from 3-5k. I am sure the measurements show it. Not only is there a peak but it seems like cone break up as well. No electronics will fix it and if it really bothers you I would move to a different brand. 
I found the same issue with the 804d3. Only when moving to the 805s did it go away. Not sure about the 803d3 as I have not spend a lot of time with them, just demos. 
I own both Rotel and Macintosh amps. I can say the Rotel is brighter as a house sound. Is the Rotel bright or McIntosh dark? I don’t know but the McIntosh does soften the edges a bit and is more enjoyable. A change in amp will NOT fix the mids on the B&Ws though. 

My experience of Rotel with B&W was very positive. I have 805 D3s now and am happy with the highs. "watch me explode" is not particularly high. just to test, I played Renee Fleming, The Art of Renee Fleming, and the speakers handled the highs well. 

I think Rotel, although good for the money, has a reputation to be bright.

Nope. I've never heard a bright Rotel through decent speakers.

The 705 series is a WTF as the B&W 80x series are superb.

When I bought my 702 s2, about 2 years ago now, I listened to a few different amps because I came across the same issue when researching the speaker before I bought it. Even though Rotel, I believe, is the same parent company as B&W, they do t seem to go well together. I use Anthem with the MCA class amp. It not nearly as “harsh” sounding. It is bit pricier but I like the company so far. That said I have some acoustic treatments as well. You may be getting a lot of high frequency echoing. Just an amateur audiophile my self but I like to research things 😬

I have the same problem as vgundam21. B&W 702s2 too bright on Mcintosh 7200 and on Marantz SR7013. No matter what source I use.
I like woman voices but can't listen as the famous SSSSS is always there. Many recordings sound flat and lifeless. Tried other DAC, cables, nope. Put a Schiit Loki mini+ between DAC and MAC. There I can tune down the highs and pump up the bass. But hell that sounds strange. And tuning down such expensive gear, mmh. BTW headphone listening is ok with senheiser HD650. So its really the speakers + room. Don't know what to do next

I use a Classe delta series amp with my B&W speakers and they sound great together. I think Rotel, although good for the money, has a reputation to be bright.  A lot of people like to pair B&W speakers wit McIntosh amps as well.

I disagree that all B&W speakers are bright, but it does seem to have that reputation.   Having said that I do find the 700 series a little on the bright side, from a few auditions I had with them.

I had a pair of B&W CM series and they were not bright at all.   I currently own a pair of B&W 804 D3, and I also don't find them to be bright.  I have tinnitus and very sensitive to brightness in audio.  The choice of source components, amps, and cables all contribute to the final sound coming out of your speakers.   It's a time consuming process and sometimes a little bit of luck can help.   

Anyway, good luck and hopefully you'll be able to find a solution that works for you.

Thanks guys! I'll take a look at all that. I'm not really sure what DAC is though, I'll have to do some digging into it

I met with a B&W dealer on Monday and they told me B&W tweeters are very bright, even brighter than the Martin Logan Motion 60 ribbon tweeters.  Perhaps these are too bright for your ears.  Ear fatigue is a real.  I wish mine were brighter so I could hear crisper sounding cymbals.  So far, I haven't been able to find a better speaker than the SALK Song3 Encore's.  

OP: you're accurately described the sound of the Rotel + B&W combination.  I think you're going to struggle to make a big difference to their sound.

if you want to listen to music only, just use the two front channels. Plain and simple. if you want to watch movies, that is when you use your surround speaker set up.

@vgundam21. 
Also if your room is similar to mine (bigger with high ceilings) you might benefit from some mid to high frequency absorption panels. Vicoustics premium cinema rounds helped the reverb out a lot and my Focal Kanta 3s rarely seem harsh and bright. 
Happy listening 

I think you have just accurately and succinctly described the sound of B & W speakers

+1 on the B&W 7 series
702’s hold the record for the worst sounding speaker I’ve heard in the past 20 years.

If your room is an arcade, it’s ear bleed time.

@vgundam21

I think you have just accurately and succinctly described the sound of B & W speakers.

I got my model wrong in the post above. I had the 703s (not 702s) which is very similar to the current 702 from a driver layout perspective. 

Yes, b&w are bright speakers, no doubt about it... I still have the 601 v1 from late 90s, I also have owned the cdm-9nt, and I have listened to a lot of them... All very bright.   
Same goes for focal and monitor audio.
They image well in the treble of course.

Call the dealer that sold you the system and they should be able to assist you.  If it was a local dealer, they should come to your home and help you address the problem. If you bought it used or from someone who refuses or cannot assist you, PS Audio claims that they will help anyone with any equipment, even if purchased elsewhere.  So maybe try that. Best of luck. 

@vgundam21My setup is similar to yours. I have the Marantz 8805 with a McIntosh 8207. Used for both music and movies. I’m running 4 REL S510  subs with the high level connection. Running audyssey wiped out my bass as well. I called REL and they suggested unplugging the high level cable and run audyssey again. That did the trick. Dialed in the volume on the subs after reconnecting. Your Marantz should have a stereo mode in the set up menu to allow 2 channel music including your sub. Hope this helps. 
Happy listening. 

I owned the 702s in college a looong time ago lol. 
They have a nasty upper midrange peak. They worm my ears out quick. On the perfect music it was kind of magical with it’s upper mid range peak but most of the time I just wore me out. Look for stereophile’s measurements of similar B&Ws and the 5k peak is almost always there.  
Personally I would just change front speakers before chasing electronics. 

I just upgraded my speakers to B&W 705s and I was having the same problem. Movies were great but music was intolerable. I realized I can’t listen to music with all 7 seven channels playing. It’s just too much high frequency in the room. Once I switched to 2 channel, everything changed. It is like I am hearing the songs for the first. One thing I did notice is my CDs sounds a thousand times better than any song I stream. Also, tow-in may not work. It definitely didn’t work for me. Good luck

First step is to use only the front speakers and sit in your listening position. You can't troubleshoot with every speaker and component playing. 
The B&W 702s will need some run-in time, you should ask the dealer how many hours. Probably a minimum 200 hours.
 It's also possible Rotel and B&W are not a good match. Both can reproduce a lot of high-end detail.

Is there any way to use a different source and see if it’s just a funky recording.

Second give it 200 hours. Sibilance can settle and just go AWAY after break in.. Planar tweeters can drive you nuts.. And out of the blue they just quit screwing up.. 200 hour mark for me a few times..

E is right, room treatment never hurts..

Regards

Is this sound volume dependent? 

If not, it's your DAC.  Try turning off any over/upsampling and see if you can avoid it.

With a previous DAC I had a handful of tracks I purchased sound like this.  Had to do with the songs hitting the absolute limits of the DAC output and causing distortion.

Another way to tell is to try listening with headphones.

Having said that, yes, I strongly encourage you to have great room treatments. :)

Not much aside from a carpet. The room is more "arcade" and less "theater".

What sort of room treatments do you have in place?

I would guess only the 2 front speakers.   I have a 5.1 and never use it for music...only tv et al.

One more thing I'll mention and this may factor in as well. When I'm listening to music, I currently have the music coming out of every speaker. I'm not sure if It's better to just have it coming out of my two front speakers

To answer both questions, I ran the Marantz Audyssey setup which was a good start and I went from there. I did a little bit of tweaking after it was done (it turned my bass waaaaaaaaay down for example, with a 1000w sub I should be able to at least feel it a little bit) and have been trying to get it adjusted to my liking. It's set up as a 5.1.4 system, I realize doing both is not really efficient and my primary focus for it is movies but I do like to play my Spotify through it and listen to my music.

Have your run the Room correction?  Audyssey often will help with those hard edges.  If you haven't run it, try that and see if it helps.  

Your system sound is for movie or music ?