@j-wall Most systems, that have no means of loudness contouring, are going to sound too bright when turned up. This is what a system with a reasonably flat frequency response is going to do. The problem all of us face is that the correct amplitude curve is a moving target. I depends on the volume you are listening at and the volume the source material was mixed at. Many older records sound lifeless until you turn them up, way up like the early Zappa and Funkadelic records.
I suspect your older unit was rolling off the top end slightly. Anyway, you have two choices, l listen at a volume the music sounds right to you or get a preamp with digital EQ capability. Digital signal processing is sonically invisible. It is the DAC's that sound. "Active" systems are going to be the norm eventually, but audiophiles are extraordinarily change resistant.