harman/kardon SoundSticks II Speaker System

I just opened my new Soundsticks II system and am so very disappointed. They sound great with deep bass-intense music, like old R&B, but sound terrible for any music with significant sound in the higher end of frequency spectrum (nearly every pop & rock song). Music with a lot of sound in midrange and higher frequencies sounds very tinny - really just terrible. I will probably return them. Such a bummer, because they do look VERY cool.

The instructions make it clear that the sound from these speakers is highly directional, so I've tried adjusting the position several times. This is not a positional issue. This is not an equalizer issue. The satellite speakers simply have a very harsh sound in the high frequency range. Almost like they are distorting. I cannot recommend these speakers to anyone.