We all have hearing loss. Only we tend not to notice until we get older and stop taking everything for granted. From then on life is one long slow slog to oblivion. Or a fascinating journey you savor every step of the way. Glad to hear you made the right choice.
Hard of Hearing Audiophile.
This is for my hard of hearing audio peers. I lost a lot of hearing from exposure to big guns in the military. Wasn't bad until my fifties then caught up with me and pretty much killed the hobby. With the virus quarantine, I set out to build a little system that would serve me. I was motivated by enjoying Spotify through my JBL 200 Life bluetooth buds.
I went through four sets of speakers, six integrated amps and a set of headphones in my quest. I have Widex hearing aids and they do have a less than perfect Music setting. Kind of harsh and peaked in the upper midrange but not totally bad for live performances and listening in the car with road noise.
For my audio system, I quickly realized that I had to listen through these hearing aids to get decent sound so my goal was to find something that was neutral to easy going and not peaky or harsh.
I went through several sets of speakers. Got a good deal on some PSB XB bookshelf's but they lacked the body and bottom end I wanted. Klipsch M600 were too forward and brash. After reading some reviews, I settled on ELAC Debut 62 speakers. These are great $600 speakers. I later added two eight inch Outlaw M8 subwoofers and they really added to the sound quality and the PSB monitors were very nice with the subs. I kept both the PSB XBs and the Elacs. I settled on Audience Ohno interconnects. They got a good review in Absolute Sound and are excellent interconnects. I'm using 3130 Mogami OFC speaker cables nicely terminated to look professional. Conductor size came out to about 9AWG. (two 12 gauge on each leg) The sub cables are some Belden 8412 with Canare F10 RCAs Terminated by me. Good sub cable but sucks as an interconnect. I cant speak highly enough of adding the Outlaw M8 subwoofers. It made a huge difference in the system.
Sitting on a wooden shelf, I slipped an 18"x18" Ceramic tiles under subs. Seemed to tighten up the bass a fraction.
I had a OPPO 93 DVD player and it is my CD source.
Amps are where I had trouble. Luckily, I discovered the Yamaha S801 integrated, and it's calm honest influence makes the entire system sound really good to me. One of Steve Guttenberg's favorites along with the PSB XB speakers.
I passed on the Cambridge 100 receiver for being dead sounding. Denon PMA800 was nice but no sub out. Outlaw receiver had a characteristic sound to me and music seemed not to escape the front of the speakers. I ordered an IOTA integrated from England and couldn't get it to work for me sonically. The Vincent 500 had a nice midrange but lacking in bass control and fitness in the details. Parasound 200 integrated and great bass and the remote was the absolute best I've ever seen, treble, bass and balance being adjustable from your listening position and you can see the bar easily from, in my case eight feet away. Too harsh and forward for me.
I found a used set of HiFi Man headphones for $130 on Ebay and they join the mix.
This setup is in my garage/work shop. I got some foam sound material from Amazon and glued it to the wall behind the system. My speaker stands are a very sturdy work counter. I have limitations. The speakers can be set out from the wall one foot max.
Thats been my adventure. If you have hearing problems, just experiment and look for the neutral sounding equipment that other may think are not exciting enough. For me it works. I don't know if any other hearing aid has a music setting or not. I am super happy with my enjoyable system now. I even got a stamp of approval from an audiophile friend with good hearing.
My thanks to Crutchfield for their generous patience with my returns and ditto for Audio Advisor. I expected to be red tagged as a return abuser but it never happened.
Remember that my hearing is damaged and your mileage may vary. Objets in the mirror are closer than they appear.
I went through four sets of speakers, six integrated amps and a set of headphones in my quest. I have Widex hearing aids and they do have a less than perfect Music setting. Kind of harsh and peaked in the upper midrange but not totally bad for live performances and listening in the car with road noise.
For my audio system, I quickly realized that I had to listen through these hearing aids to get decent sound so my goal was to find something that was neutral to easy going and not peaky or harsh.
I went through several sets of speakers. Got a good deal on some PSB XB bookshelf's but they lacked the body and bottom end I wanted. Klipsch M600 were too forward and brash. After reading some reviews, I settled on ELAC Debut 62 speakers. These are great $600 speakers. I later added two eight inch Outlaw M8 subwoofers and they really added to the sound quality and the PSB monitors were very nice with the subs. I kept both the PSB XBs and the Elacs. I settled on Audience Ohno interconnects. They got a good review in Absolute Sound and are excellent interconnects. I'm using 3130 Mogami OFC speaker cables nicely terminated to look professional. Conductor size came out to about 9AWG. (two 12 gauge on each leg) The sub cables are some Belden 8412 with Canare F10 RCAs Terminated by me. Good sub cable but sucks as an interconnect. I cant speak highly enough of adding the Outlaw M8 subwoofers. It made a huge difference in the system.
Sitting on a wooden shelf, I slipped an 18"x18" Ceramic tiles under subs. Seemed to tighten up the bass a fraction.
I had a OPPO 93 DVD player and it is my CD source.
Amps are where I had trouble. Luckily, I discovered the Yamaha S801 integrated, and it's calm honest influence makes the entire system sound really good to me. One of Steve Guttenberg's favorites along with the PSB XB speakers.
I passed on the Cambridge 100 receiver for being dead sounding. Denon PMA800 was nice but no sub out. Outlaw receiver had a characteristic sound to me and music seemed not to escape the front of the speakers. I ordered an IOTA integrated from England and couldn't get it to work for me sonically. The Vincent 500 had a nice midrange but lacking in bass control and fitness in the details. Parasound 200 integrated and great bass and the remote was the absolute best I've ever seen, treble, bass and balance being adjustable from your listening position and you can see the bar easily from, in my case eight feet away. Too harsh and forward for me.
I found a used set of HiFi Man headphones for $130 on Ebay and they join the mix.
This setup is in my garage/work shop. I got some foam sound material from Amazon and glued it to the wall behind the system. My speaker stands are a very sturdy work counter. I have limitations. The speakers can be set out from the wall one foot max.
Thats been my adventure. If you have hearing problems, just experiment and look for the neutral sounding equipment that other may think are not exciting enough. For me it works. I don't know if any other hearing aid has a music setting or not. I am super happy with my enjoyable system now. I even got a stamp of approval from an audiophile friend with good hearing.
My thanks to Crutchfield for their generous patience with my returns and ditto for Audio Advisor. I expected to be red tagged as a return abuser but it never happened.
Remember that my hearing is damaged and your mileage may vary. Objets in the mirror are closer than they appear.
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- 43 posts total
40 years of flying high performance jets did me in. I can still hear ok but have tinnitus. I bought a pair of Focal Aria 936 speakers and a Anthem STR integrated amp and stream Tidal. I use to love headphones but the ringing makes them tuff at times. Just remember you did what you enjoyed and keep on playing the music. |
fredcdobbs - thank you for your thorough post! It gives me hope!! I too have lost hearing from playing in loud bands, attending loud concerts, and guns - it can be quite frustrating (tinnitus and unbalanced high-freq from right to left!! |
Hearing loss is heartbreak for everyone. Comes on so gradually for most but those interested in good sound from their audio systems and what sounds good their ears have a higher regard for subtle sounds. Hearing loss is a natural process of aging. It is accelerated by longtime exposure to high volume sound. Most experience loss first in the higher frequencies. Inability to understand conversation in a noisy environment, such as in a bar or at a party. Your hearing loss, aside from the aging process, is also due to loud sounds exposed to in the military.So, multiple ranges may be affected. Please don't think that I am assuming that you have not done everything you can to improve your hearing and have investigated the best hearing aid options for your loss. But, a detailed audiogram of your hearing ability across the whole range of frequencies is a vital tool. I also have some hearing loss from playing in rock bands at a young age and the aging process has added to that. Good luck to you and I commend you with your efforts to achieve the best possible. |
- 43 posts total