recommendation for speaker wire to soften the highs if possible

Geoffkait, good point. That's another reason I like Goertz speaker cables. Square wave response is a solid indicator of a component's ability to deal with transients, quick sharp sounds, such as cymbals. Western Electric cables and Goertz speaker cables were both designed by electrical engineers. This page shows the difference between Goertz and more normal cables to a square wave.

http://www.bridgeportmagnetics.com/contents/en-us/d62_MI_AG_Speaker_Cables.html

Goertz cables were one of the first to recognize the importance of wire directionality. I had Goertz interconnects many eons ago.

And you’re right. Cables are filters not gafilte fish. 🐠

I see. I still stand by that if you’re hearing harsh and shrill top end from your speakers, it’s a room issue, most likely the first point reflection.

i feel that using cables to tune the sound is a flawed way to approach tailoring your system. This is just my opinion. I’m not trying to say cables are not important 

I have about half a dozen speaker cables and every one of them sounds different. It’s just the nature of cables. A designer is going for what he/she thinks sounds best or can sound best for a variety of different systems.

Since we all hear differently and our preferences are skewed all over the map, it’s impossible to build the perfect cable. All of mine measure fine and reviewers all like them but they all sound different so it’s not a flawed approach to try them, compare the differences, and settle on the best one for a particular system.

I listen in the near field so my first point of reflection are my head and ears. I have the resolution of headphones without the drawbacks. It’s incredibly apparent that cables and even tweaks can have a profound effect on what I hear. Most times it’s closer to subtle but when the differences are summed, the results are not subtle.

All the best,
Nonoise

d2girls, IME, usually it's an equipment issue, but I concurr 100% about cables not being an answer. At best they are a bandaid.