Transients hurting my ears on hifi solid state amps

I feel for you as I have the same problem. I would suggest that it is your hearing. My daughter is an audiologist and she explained it to me. It is a condition called Hyperacusis. If you suffer from this you will find that you are sensitive to certain frequencies which feel like they hurt your ears. It is most common that higher frequencies are the worst offenders. Like you the upper register of the piano (mainly above middle C for me) is a strong offender. My daughter is a pianist and I cannot sit in the same room as she when she plays. Other things that you might find uncomfortable in this register of your hearing are: clanking plates when a dishwasher is unloaded, screaming babies, violins, a nail being hammered in, being in full loud restaurants which have a lot of reflective surfaces etc.

Hyperacusis usually comes on gradually during late middle age, but can come on earlier if you have damaged hearing

Unfortunately there is no cure and it is a sign that your hearing is permanently damaged and needs protecting if you go into anywhere loud. So wear ear protection if you go to gigs. You may also get tinnitus with Hyperacusis, but not always. The good news is that if you protect your ears in loud environments it should not get worse.

Regarding Hi-Fi: I had to sell my Naim gear as it sounded harsh and affected my Hyperacusis. I demoed many solid state amps, front ends and speakers. I ended up with a Vitus amp and DAC - they have a wonderful sound with no hard edges that affect my hearing. Speakers I chose were Boenicke (a Swiss company making very natural sounding speakers). I also recommend Luxman amps, they were very smooth and didn’t affect my ears.

Good luck!

If if you can narrow it down to certain frequencies an equalizer might be the easiest solution. I know it‘s frowned upon by some but compared to trying more and more amps and other gear (which you are otherwise happy with), this might be a step worth taking. There are affordable ones on the market that otherwise don‘t compromise the sound quality.

(I‘m thinking about it myself.)

With solid state  vs tubes tubes take on more even harmonics when there are peaks ,Solid state in theory odd harmonics which are peaks 

that is why Mosfets by character character can be warmer or look at pass labs specs just to see what is in their DNA build to get an idea,  Bipolor shave a bit softer leading edge like vacuum tubes 

my Coda uses all 3 types , no brightness at all and myself sensitive to brightness

also another potential fix. Is a warmer sounding dac, or audio cables 

Cardas is know for a warmer cable in their reflection models , just on Sourse to start.

Look at Oddessy Audio… Klaus the owner is well respected in the industry. His Khartago Extreme SS Amp can be had for $1450.00. One of the best builds for the price… Read the reviews these amps are keepers you don’t see many of them used and they come with a 20 year warranty that’s transferable. Klaus also makes great PreAmps in both SS & Tube, just be prepared to wait a bit on his pre’s being he can’t make them fast enough due to the demand and reputation.

You also can check out Tube4hifi.com,also known as VTA. Roy the owner makes some amazing preamps that you could add to your SS amp. His SP-14 is an industry classic. Check out the online reviews. He also does some pretty amazing things with his Dynaco 70 Amp Mods.

Both of these guys are pretty respected in the industry and it might be worthwhile to check them out being they could go over amplifier characteristics and nuances with you and probably meet your needs.

Myself I’m using an Odyssey Khartago Extreme Amp & Tubes4Hifi SP-13 Preamp and really enjoying my set up…

www.odysseyaudio.com

www.tubes4hifi.com

Get an older krell class A amp. They are very smooth and non fatiguing. The ksa series and you can have them rebuilt for under a grand. The build quality is exceptional and it’s pure class A. They do get hot but man do they sound sweet.