Is it me or new audio gear is too perfect and give ear fatigue?

For example,  take Atmasphere amps designed to explicitly not produce high order distortion.  Until recently these were all tube amps but now an Atmasphere SS Class D amp is a real thing.   So draw your own conclusion there about the capabilities of modern technology done well.  Done well is ALWAYS the key.  That just takes smart people who are good engineers. 

Also, just for the record I have heard some very expensive tube systems at shows designed explicitly to not produce ear fatigue deliver some of the most fatiguing sound in the show. Probably a system mismatch issue combined with challenging room acoustics. Again, doing it right and applying the best technology correctly is ALWAYS the key, not any specific one type of technology used. Guarandamteed! 😉

Also as a footnote if modern gear is producing degrading high order harmonics IT IS NOT TOO PERFECT…..in fact it is flawed. There will always be winners and loser in any product category. Again it’s all in the execution and the choices provided by modern technology. Those choices always continue to do nothing but improve. So choose wisely! 🦉

The Holy Grail in this crazy hobby is an alchemy mix looking for a system synergy regardless of system price point strata. ( yes..it is far more acute as you ascend up into the component higher price points)

Achieving that ethereal system synergy (or not …) is a binary choice result …. It’s either “yay” or “nay”. It is very difficult to define it and anything but easy to get to it, but you intuitively know when you find it.(… or not …) 

Ear fatigue / listening fatigue is a litmus test of a clear miss … full stop. Make adjustments as required by a hands-on bespoke trial and error experimentation.

- a simple example of rolling up your sleeves in that trial and error process:

we all live in a world of budgets and resulting compromises, that is further confused by widely differing personal tastes and resulting biases. One thing remains a general constant in speaker selection in my experiences that is is also supported in many of the reviews :

The philosophy is clear. An affordable speaker with decent source and amplification makes more sense than an expensive speaker with a cheap amp and source.