Bcgator,
I know you are comparing the 22L to the B&W Signature 805, when you made those comments about the 22L sounding like "sandpaper"...."grainy".
But for the life of me I have no idea what you're talking about.
The 22L is so very smooth.
Anyone who takes the time to match appropriate components upstream and work on placement with the 22L; will be rewarded with silky, smooth highs and midrange......and of course a nice tight lower end.
I don't know what the circumstances involved in your comparison, nor do I know of the room acoustics. But I have to believe what you heard was not the 22L at it's best.
I own the 22L, and myself and some friends have done quite a bit of comparing, and to a man ( and women) they all love the 22L. No harshness, no grain, certainly no sandpaper....when set up properly.
The 22L can be very revealing and unforgiving of bad recordings and bright components.
I feel there's a huge misconception regarding the 22L and it seems to be rooted in some review, where the reviewer claimed the 22L was the worst of the L-Series line.
I've heard or owned all the L-Series speakers in the last 2 years, and I disagree. So do a lot of other people who have taken the time to listen to them all.
The 22L is also VERY VERY sensitive to positioning. If you take that into consideration for the B&W Signature 805, in fairness, you should have taken that into consideration with the 22L.
I don't care what people say about the difference in the crossover points of the 22L, compared to the rest of the line. The bottome line, when they are set up and matched correctly, they sound better than any of the other L-Series models.
Simply looking at crossover points, is not the same as listening and living with them; and I have done that with all of the L-Series models. The 22L stood head and shoulders above the rest.