I will give it 200 hours like you suggested. I love the Brio otherwise, but if that brightness does not change it might be a deal breaker for me. Everyone hears different. Maybe I am just sensitive to that brightness more than others? I re-connected my older Arcam A70 that I was hoping to replace with the Brio R. Just to get an idea. The voice S and T sounds were still there but they were less sharp and more rounded than the Brio is. It was something I could live with. So far with the Brio it is not. Thanks for your help. I will give you an update in the next week or so after further break in.