Do your speakers bite??

I love the snap of a snare and the tsing of a trumpet or sax, but  when the sound acquires an overall hardness I quickly cease being a happy listener. But oh yes, back in the days when I listened to Vin Scully doing the Dodgers on AM, the hardness of the tiny transistor radio did lend an unmistakable aura of you-are-there excitement.

Bite can be called sibilants  or etched ,bright , in natural if it’s a horn it should sound brassy ,a screech from a electric guitar and if using reverb can be electronic sounding , .having been modding or upgrading Loudspeaker Xovers for Many years. If you have say a bright beryllium tweeter, or horn , more times then not. 
over80% of all loudspeakers use substandard parts for example I use mod Xovers and make loudspeaker purifiers ,

in your speakers a $2 ceramic resistor which can be gritty I use the best Mundorf copper foil ultra , or Path audio resistors $30 each,  capacitors many use ok at best Solen capacitors , or cheaper line clarity caps ,or Mundorfs mid line. Why 

it’s all about $$ . Roughly $25% of the cost of-your speaker including packing is all that goes into your speaker ,the rest R&D overhead and markup.

i was a audio dealer for 10 years, this too includes the vast majority of electronics .

this is why many times I just buy a quality component then lookfor all weaknesses and upgrade it ,with electronics for example I take Duelunds world class capacitors on the coupling or output stage of my preamp section from the very respectable Rel cap and give them a Loong  burn in and a huge jump in performance 

@audioman58 

Well, for Focal and Whaferdale speakers, a simple tweeter replacement to a Mundorf MKP or Clarity SA can be game changers.

Best,

Erik

So many variables to consider here; not sure I interpret "bite" correctly but if the question is realistic vs. engaging then you could find an endless list of speakers claiming to be one or the other.

First look at your room (Getbettersound.com) then evaluate your equipment and speakers.

What I found in my 2 channel music system was my B&W 603-S2s were less bright (more neutral sounding) when not toed in and without bottom stand supports. But, then I replaced them with Dynaudio Contour 20s (much higher price than entry level B&Ws) and magic! Realistic natural sound with superb vocals and more detail.

I moved the B&Ws to a video surround sound set up in another room and they are perfect for movie and sports formats. Trial and error; demo in your room, whatever you choose your results will vary, but first consider the room dynamics.

I had a recording studio in my house for 10 years and I recorded a fair bit of acoustic music including guitar, accordion, violin, brass, drums, taiko drums, and various percussion instruments. I can tell you from personal experience that acoustic instruments, especially when close-mic'd, have far more aggressive transients, or "bite" in person than they have on recordings. Virtually every recording engineer uses compression to tame these transients because they would be unpleasant if if not compressed.

If you are in a live music venue then, indeed, the transients are tame because you are so far away from the instruments. It's similar with recording - as you move the mic away from the instruments the transients decline.

I have never called it "bite" but my speakers and amp (Thiel CS6, Krell KSA 300S) produce transients very well and when I play a recording that has hot transients I sometimes jump in my seat. I wouldn't have it any other way. Apparently I've gotten used to it because this summer at the Pacific Audio Fest I heard several megabuck systems that didn't sound as dynamic as mine. I came home, fired up my system and went, "Yeaaah.."