Aging ears and Nuances


I spoke to and older audio buddy of mine and he made a full 180 on his nice tube gear and just went with lower cost streamer that can also be used as a preamp. He says he doesn’t hear much above 11.5k. My tests let me hear up to about 13.5k but I’m able to hear even subtle differences between tube amps etc quite easily even though most of the music is in lower frequencies of the spectrum regardless. Does anyone here find themselves experiencing a more difficult time appreciating the nuances with their age? And has it affected the choices you have made with gear, not being as picky? 

rankaudio

I believe all of you. However, one sign of agedness among some of the faithful gathered hereabouts manifests in our tendency to repeatedly hash over old arguments like a bunch of old duffers sitting around the pickle barrel in the general store. Wouldn't have it any other way. Sometimes if an old argument is sampled daily for centuries it can turn into something magnificent to behold - something entirely unexpected.

 

 

 

According to the VA I have lost a bit at both ends of the spectrum. Nothing too bad. 
My problem is not what I cannot hear. It is what I do hear. 
All that said being in my 70’s with a myriad of issues I had to downsize to equipment I can physically handle. Moving around 100 pound amps and speakers is simply no longer an option. 
A word of advice… please do not ever tear your quad tendon off the bone. 

My high frequency hearing isn't as good as it was when I was young, but I can still hear the most critical music ranges quite well.  In my 60s, even with less than youthful hearing I am a more experienced and patient listener and am more adept at identifying nuance and subtle changes than when I was young.  

There is an awful lot more to music reproduction than high frequency bandwidth.  In my experience you can enjoy quality music reproduction and hear subtle component differences as you age despite a gradual loss of high frequency hearing.

As other posters have noted, with experience you also learn to be a better listener.

I believe our brains retain the experiences of listening in our younger years and "fill in" the missing frequency information even when our ears no longer detect them. We know what full range music sounds like and that knowledge is recalled by the overall sound such that we don't notice the missing frequencies.