High End Audio and Your hearing as you get older

Sorry guys, from studies I've seen males begin loosing higher frequency perception by our mid-twenties. This happens to females too but not as early. The thing is we are all different so we do not lose it at the same rate.

I'm 68 and have worn hearing aids for eight years. Even with those I can't hear above 8K Hz. Does that mean I've lost my interest and pleasure in listening to music? Not a bit. Does it mean I've had to make adjustments? Absolutely.

I certainly miss the overtones of bells and cymbals. There was a time that I could identify how many different cymbals were being played by a jazz drummer in a good recording but no longer. There was a time when I identified between two CD players while blindfolded five our of five. I doubt I could do that today. I can accept those limitations because I still find enjoyment listening to music I love.

Concerning equipment, this has made me a little more sensitive to brightness and harshness. It may be surprising given my high frequency hearing loss but flutes, trumpets, violins, etc. can be uncomfortable to listen to if the system distorts them at all. But I have a reference in continuing to attend live music concerts where these instruments do not bother me as much.

Just take a tip from Ms. Glennie, try listening with your whole person.

Right Jtimothya, big difference between fundamentals and overtones.

Listen to a test disc such as one of those produced by Stereophile. It may be surprising how high in frequency a 2K or 4K tone sounds.

Djohnson54, do you really believe RS had such quality control that all their meter had deviations of the same amount? That would be pretty tight non-quality control! ;-)

I have a RS SPL meter that I've used for years, but only for measuring relative values, never absolute.