Advice on compensating for hearing loss


Here's a puzzle: I'm an 84-year-old music/movie lover with considerable hearing loss (especially upper register), helped to some extent by high-end Oticon hearing aids.  Current system is an Arcam AVR300 receiver and a pair of Von Schweikert  VR-1 bookshelf speakers, old but still working well. What kind of additions/ improvements can I make that would at least  help with dialogue and lyrics and possibly even make music (classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, rock) more enjoyable? A center speaker?  Which ones (since the Von Schweikert's can't be matched I've been considering everything from Polk CD10 to Elac C5 to Aperion 5C)? Would a subwoofer help? Anything else? I'm not much interested in surround per se unless it helps with the issue. I'm sure I'm not the only senior grappling with these and similar questions. Thanks for any and all suggestions.

jessleo

Showing 1 response by whart

I assume you’ve visited an audiologist, given the hearing aids. Although shunned by the high-end crowd for years, an equalizer might make sense. There are some good ones, albeit at a price. Perhaps some folks who use them can weigh in-- one area of savings may be to look into EQ used for professional sound applications, rather than audiophile approved products.
I find the dialog on movie soundtracks harder to hear- and goose the volume setting for that on our small home theatre. It may partly be aging and partly how the soundtracks are mixed.
For two channel "purist" audio, I’ve also found significant differences in mixes- for example, the original UK pressing of In the Court of the Crimson King-- an average sounding recording even as a first press pink label, has Lake’s voice very recessed in the mix. The Steve Wilson remix-- which was until recently, only available on digital media but is now out as part of a multi-album LP set, fixes that--you can finally hear Lake’s voice- stunning-- on the track "Epitaph."
I guess my point is that even with profound hearing loss, it’s not all you!
Be interested on some of the other takes people here offer.
Glad you are still rocking your system.