I am 70 now however this happened to me over 25 years ago, I had a bad cold and ear infection ever since I have suffered mild tinnitus, it is especially evident with 'ssss" , it made me very prone to hearing sibilance. Try listening to instrumental music, if that is not brighter then this could be the cause. Simple hearing tests will not determine this as no loss of the ability to hear each frequency has occurred. In my job, working with explosives, I had hearing tests very regularly, the results never changed.
I noticed brightness/harshness more than usual from my system a couple months back.
My system is not high end by any stretch see my virtual system. A couple months back I noticed brightness/harshness when playing my lp Steely Dan Aja the song Deacon Blues. I had never noticed this before. This is one of my best sounding LPs. I hear it on others too. Sometimes it's subtle, other times it stands out, sometimes I think all is OK. Weird! I never noticed this before. I always liked the sound of my system. Something changed, but what? I am approaching 70 years old and I am wondering if my ears are more sensitive to high frequencies. But anyway I started by checking my cartridge. Visual inspection. Adding and reducing tracking force. Anti skate too. Moved speakers away from and closer to the walls. Cleaned all connections with deoxit. Even sent the cartridge to The Sound Organization to be checked. They did not find anything. I am not able to rearrange my listening area or add room correction. Just nowhere to go.
I would assume if the speakers or integrated were defective I would know it. Something like that would stand out. Yes? I am thinking it is probably a combination of bright speakers, bright amp, bright cartridge and old ears.
So if nothing is broke.... I am considering replacing the speakers would work. Maybe Wharfedale Lintons. I can afford them or something in this price range. Maybe the cartridge? Hana SL or ML. Maybe the integrated? But with what I have no idea. Naim SuperNait 3 caught my eye though I would need to save a long time to afford it. I am retired and on a fixed income. Really fixed! There is nowhere close I can audition any of these.
I realize I am asking alot but any suggestions would be great!