I have heard the original FB1, not the *plus*, but have heard the plus tweeter in the DB1+,...so I am guessing to some extent, perhaps within reason though:
I thought the FB1 was perhaps a little dry sounding, but not bright or explicitly sharp sounding,...the DB1+ is definitely not bright sounding either, not in the grand scheme of things.
First thing I'd look to is break in, just so that it can be eliminated as a possibility. Here's what you can do:
Swap the L and R speaker connections on ONE of the the speakers.
Get a CD or other source that is mono only, not stereo and put it on *repeat*.
Face the speakers directly at each other, as close as possible and cover with as many quilts and blankets as you can.
Hit *play* and turn it up,...leave *cooking* for 2 or 3 days.
Important to note how loud you can play this track before you set the whole thing up - what you've done above is hook the speakers up out of phase, so that when playing a mono track, each speaker will be playing an opposite signal of the other, i.e., when the two sounds meet, they will cancel each other out. .., so the speakers will actually be playing much louder than you hear.
The point of doing the above is that you can have the speakers playing really hard and jump start the break-in without having to live with the pounding loud music.
When that's done, look to the room acoustics. Is it a bright room? Little heavy furnishing? Hard floor? Lots of glass? etc.
And another perhaps helpful point is that I have heard the Arcam A85 and did not find it bright.
I find the DB1+ is pretty revealing and likes quality electronics. For example, the Naim Nait 3R is exposed as not good enough and the Nait 5i makes great music. Haven't heard the combo, but would be surprised if the Arcam was not up to the task,...I'd explore the other options before giving up on the amp or the combo,..
Best of luck with the experiments, M.
