OK Audiogon, help me out please

11 x 11 is definitely an issue...an hour drive is quite short considering the money you are looking to spend...

@ justlance     11x11 and I'm guessing 8 foot ceiling max.  Any room treatments?  Carpet, bass traps, book cases or other diffusion/absorbation (especially at the 1st reflection points, heavy curtains for the window, a lot of furniture, etc.?  

A room that small, with no or minimal room treatment, could be the source of the harshness, as well as some boomy base.  So if you might want to look into that first.

And I agree with @dayglow, the MA 500 Gold's might be too big. The MA 300's (either Gold or Silver) might be better suited for the room.

And watch the used listings.  There are a lot of great speakers at your budget point.

With your other equipment, and in a room that size, I agree with deep_333. Check out the Mofi Point Source speakers if you can too.

Fritz carbon 7s. 

OP: The problem with my current speakers are they seem very bright in the mids and harsh in the upper.

What you’ve described is probably the most common complaint in this forum. I suspect that new speakers may not be the solution. Typically, the remedy lies in cleaning up the power, room treatments and/or speaker positioning. Most likely a mix of each.

Here’s a link to a discussion about: Symptoms of Un-clean power. Many threads are about this subject.

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Speakers can always be found on sale. Take your time to figure out your course of action.

If you do visit a dealer, ask what kind of power conditiong they're using.