High End Audio and Your hearing as you get older


.
I understand that your hearing decreases as you get older. Does it decrease to the point where at say, age 70, a mid-fi preamp and cd player sounds just as good as a high end preamp and cd player.

I'm 57 now, but wondering if when I'm 70, all this hi-fi stuff will sound the same as mid-fi stuff to a pair of old ears.
.
128x128mitch4t
Nonoise, I suspect that brain filling might become fatiguing, and without the regular calibration that younger folks enjoy, perhaps even unreliable. As the clip that Ballan linked suggests, that doesn't mean that our listening experience is without merit or even potential growth. It just might be different.
Not directly related, but pretty close. I heard (I think it was on NPR) recently that all folks that ride motorcycles without helmuts or hearing protection of some sort will have significant hearing loss as they age (age = more exposure). Of course, "significant" is relative. The loss is due to the wind noise & not loud mufflers...

Something I'd never considered..but not being a motorcycle rider, it's just interesting to me. If there are any riders hear..think about it..
Fess-up time:--ya,so I'm close to 73---Hey it ain't my fault I was born before some of ya'all.(Or is that 'most of--)
Within "The Wall's" "Comfortably Numb" as the guy is doing his fix/the needle's pin prick is now much harder to hear/ much harder to discern / than it was back in the '80s/ on cheap mid fi stuffs. That tells me a lot.
On the other hand when I added Tara's Zero Gold ics; that improved everything so much that I still enjoy changing for the better;along with my basic love for music/even if my hearing is less. This is a common philosophy of life in so many areas.--Or to quote Clint: A man's gotta know his limitations.--And in so doing see the glass as 1/2 full.
If ones hearing depreciates as such, then one more reason to get the good stuff now. I do feel and experience listening better if not hearing as well as I get older. Another aspect of better gear is the simple joy of owning better gear in look and feel. Enjoy it for a long as your ears will allow. Music makes life sweeter at any age.
Really, a trained ear takes years to develope. So, with age, what you may loose in Hz range, is offset by knowing what to listen for. Younger people probably dont hear "better" because they don't know how to listen yet. My hearing for detail has got so good that it becomes anoying sometimes- like I can't shut it off. Some times I wish I only had mid-fi hearing!!!