I've been playing with speaker positioning, including the subtle lean back Dante suggested. I didn't really hear any softening of the high frequencies. I also took out almost all toe in but to no avail of consequence. I have since left them with a more subtle toe in and it sounds a bit better. More than anything, I think, it's a matter of A) my room with 12' ceilings and B) the speakers themselves. They are fine speakers but they are smaller floorstanders than I have been accustomed to. The fact is they will play loud, but in my room, driven by my 300 WPC MA8000, and particularly when connected to the 8 Ohm taps,
I need to begin listening sessions at a volume level of approx 34-36% vs the 40-42% I was listening at while connected to 4 Ohms. So some re-calibration if you will of my listening style. It's another testament to the significant difference in tone between the two taps.
At the end of the day, I'd ideally like a silkier sound, as much as I like these speakers, but again hard to tell how much is room vs speakers or amp. My plan was to but a set of 803 Diamonds later this year and have a feeling they will be better matched to the MA8000. With the CM10's, the amp almost seems to over power them when pushed. I much prefer that to feeling under powered though. It just feels like thre is a pretty small window, from say 36% to 48%, until the sound and volume just seems to reach its non fatiguing peak. All of that is when connected to 8 Ohms, where the sound is really superior within those levels. With the 4Ohm taps, the volume window is much larger, but the sound isn't nearly as precise or crisp.
I'm not really sure where that leaves my OCD addled brain
, but at least I think I understand it. Any other view points with Mac amps and B&W speakers is welcome