My Antal 202 sounded a bit bright at first. Uppgraded interconnects, got better. Inserted a Monarchy upsampler into the digital chain, brightness almost disapeared.. but some disks remained too edgy. Now I have a Samsung universal player modified by EVS audio. More transparency than ever, but the brightness is completely gone. So yes, the source does matter a lot, and should be your priority. But the right amp can also make a revolution.
Good luck.
Good luck.