As a tube gear owner for 23 years, I should remind you that these products require maintanence.
As regards room tuning, Warren is absolutely right. It took me about 3 years to tune the room I'm in now (been here 16 years). One of the easiest ways to reduce harshness is too get your listening seat away from the wall behind you. My head is 2ft from the back wall and just this move made a rather large improvement in naturalness. I also have strategically placed room tunes - ceiling corners, behind speakers, side walls. These also really helped smooth out the music and make it more real and natural. I've gotten to where I can hear the room as opposed to the speakers and can make adjustments to remove, as much as possible, that "room sound".
