So Much "Harshness"

in it's simplest form; harshness is when our ears tell us a sound is not natural. typically it is an aspect of the sound that is like finger nails on a chalk board; we kinda tense up until it stops. sometimes it jumps out; somnetimes it is subtle and we may not be conscious of it.

the source of harshness can be as simple as the room; imagine music played in a bathroom; all those hard surfaces may cause un-natural ringing and reflections. noise in the power grid can create a background 'hash' that can cause harshness. bad connections can cause noise. digital conversion from analog causes a degree of harshness since it has jagged edges to the smooth analog waveform. depending on the perfection of the D to A conversion you hear that to some degree. cables and speakers can have non-linerarities which are percieved as harshness.

many times until we hear that same music without the hashness we don't realize how significant it is. many people who have digital music as their reference do not understand what is meant by digital harshness. so harshness is a relative thing.

anyway; our ears are very sensitive to un-natural sounds, it's part of eveolution and how we survived.

Along with power and EMI/RFI issues, speaker room interactions can be the culprit. Personally, I find music to be harsh or fatiguing if the bass isn't right.

I agree....harshness...is mostly a power problem. Troublesome as it takes some experimentation to rid.

I suggest the foundation should always start with dedicated 20amp circuits....and then some good shielded power cords.

One caveat....your equipment especially the front end...cannot be midfi although there are exceptions. There's are plenty of dacs and players for 1K that sound very good.

i think some people prefer a bright sound. just consider all of the current production componsnts and speakers.

manufacturer's design for the maximum resolution. unfortunately many components have imbalances in frequency response.

if you consider that 20 + years ago, harshness was not a problem, evn though the ac and the room may have been a problem, the obvious reason for the current complaints is the pursuit of resolution and the components available to satisfy that demand.

Mrtennis,
I bet you would be hard pressed to find anyone with totally analog gear system that complains about harshness.

20 years ago we did not have computer based electronics that cause the hash on the AC line as we do today. Damn near every appliance we use today, to make our lives simpler, have a micro processor built into them.

Most EMI/RFI noise originates with in our own homes.