well I dont find my Denons to be harsh at all in my rig; allthough I have heard them sound that way in some pairings. mine are woodied partially modded, recabled and balanced D2000 (there's a mouthful); they (in general) can have a tendency towards brightness with silver cables (cliche warning I know) but its true, I would never put a silver cable with them or specifically ON them; as they turn into sibilance machines IMO. I love them for instrumental jazz, electronica, ambient and most spacious music.
I have the tassie blackwood LA cups, which I installed myself along with the partial mod. I feel the full mod takes some of the fun out of them; part of the charm of the denons is the slightly unruly and wild SQ. take all that away and you may as well buy some AT
with the bass tamed a touch, the formerly somewhat overwhelming bass turns into wonderful textured bass and the mids move forward a touch. The woodies add a bit more air and extension at both ends and generally make them sound a little more open and less congested (especially with the lighter density woods) However lately I havent been using them so much though, as my JH13 just do just about everything better, only fullsize can i'm still using is my balanced HD600 for some rock and live albums; the sheer dynamism and air is superb. They arent as airy and detailed as the balanced HD800 I heard at a recent meet, but still very enjoyable and at todays prices represent good value; leaves you some dollars to spend on a decent amp/source to drive them, which is an absolute must for the total experience.
lately, perish the thought, I have been considering selling my Denons, as it seems a waste to have them sitting there unused; I collect audio gear that i like to use, not just for the sake of itself.
i heard the HF-2 at the meet too and i'm looking forward to recabling them, so I can have them for a little bit. the HF-2 seem to me to have most of the sheer fun factor of the denons, without some of the pitfalls. bass is tighter (by default), they have the speed that the denons sometimes lack and are extremely tuneful IMO. wish I had the forethought to order some when they were released, as i'm simply not prepared to pay the current asking price asked by the flippers.
wow what a ^^ jumbled incongruous mess that was!! hope it made some sense to someone.