Sibilance # 2 or "Boy, do I feel like an idiot"

@decooney 

It started out with only select CDs but now it seems to affect EVERY vocal cd I play, whether the singer is male or female. I bought a CD last week, after I'd already begun to notice sibilance and the CD in question sounded great-- no sibilance, whatsoever. I played it today and the sibilance is there. WTF? 

I can't help but wonder whether a progressively failing part is to blame.

The Hegel is 6 months old.

I've had the Jay's for a few weeks.

I bought the Aqua DAC in May of 2019. 

The Silverline monitors are 17 years old. 

I've got an appt. for a hearing test, tomorrow but as it's never been checked before, I have no baseline. I don't see how it will help me determine why a system that sounded fine before I got the Jays (Sim -> Aqua -> Hegel) now sounds excessively sibilant.  

It started out with only select CDs but now it seems to affect EVERY vocal cd I play, whether the singer is male or female. I bought a CD last week, after I'd already begun to notice sibilance and the CD in question sounded great-- no sibilance, whatsoever. I played it today and the sibilance is there. WTF? 

Can you play it in a car, or on someone else’s system?
(That could rule out your ears.)

@holmz 

Thanks-- I'll try that. 

If it sounds good in the car, and good with headphone, then it is the amp portion of the integrated, or more likely the speakers.

Personally I find starting with the most likely causal mechanisms and working down from there, can save time and money.

The power supply/conditioning would be an example… as would all the ICs and power cords, coming before the integrated amp.

And no sibilance “with headphones and in a car”, also means you could cancel the hearing test… (it would not be causing the home system to be different than the phones or the car.)

@holmz 

Your simple suggestion (try car CDP) clarified this mystery in less than a minute. 

The good news-- I'm no longer wandering around in the dark

The not so good news-- it does seem to be my hearing.

The reason I doubted this possibility from the start was simply the fact that I went from being entirely unaware of sibilance to becoming aware of it and finding it increasingly annoying, in the span of about three weeks. 

At any rate, I feel relieved, knowing what's going on.

Thanks !