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Do you get Ringing in the Ears from your hi-fi?

Lets face it, any prolonged exposure to loud sound can produce a permanent hearing loss. Even ONE exposure to sound over 120 DB for a few minutes can permanently damage the delicate ear apparatus. Have you found yourself buying higher powered amps and turning the volume up over the years, or have you joined the ranks of those listening to 6" speakers and 2 watt triodes? I limit my exposure to under 15 minutes per day. Some say that a person can listen an ultra clean sounding, low distortion system without any hearing loss, such as in a recording studio. I have found that listening to sealed enclosure speakers(klh or AR) produces more hearing loss that a bass reflex speaker will. Have you ever noticed RINGING IN THE EARS after listening to your stereo? This is actually an indication of damage to the hearing mechanism.
mint604
Post removed 
tomryan
796 posts
 
Buy a bunch of those soft, foamy earplugs and learn to get them into the cannals of your ears. Wear every night when you've got them deep seated. If not in properly they don't do much good. You know when they are in as you can feel them expanding and causing pressure, and the aural world slowly disappears. Or, go to an audiologist and get custom fit ones.

I had tinnitus about 5-6 years ago that got to a level of great botheration. Ear doctor told me to wear earplugs everynight and on every airline flight. Also said to only use car windows for ventilation when first entering, then roll up and use A/C. I did all these things and I now have to concentrate to notice the ear ringing.

It use to intrude on music listening, now I never notice it.
donbellphd
205 posts
 
There are certainly other causes of tinnitus than sound exposure, and if you have a continuing experience you should get to a otologist or at least a good ENT guy who could refer you to an otologist for appropriate evaluation. These guys will likely have your hearing sensitivity checked by an audiologist, but it should be more than that to eliminate other potential causes, e.g. tinnitus can be a symptom of a tumor which if caught in time can be operable.

By all means, do protect your hearing by listening at reasonable levels. Rock concerts can damage your hearing, so don't try to recreate anything near such perceived levels in your home. I think distinguishing between the effects of ported, air-suspension, or infinite baffle speakers is just more of the smoke and mirror stuff so common on Audiogon forums. It's high sound pressure levels, aka high dB SPLs, that get you.

db
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Only when I turn it past 3 o'clock.
donbellphd
205 posts
 
I should relate a personal experience: My best friend's father suffered from tinnitus, and went to his GP who told him he should just get used to it. He asked me about it, because he knew I worked as a graduate student at a research center that was funded to study the effects of noise on hearing. I recommended he go to the House Institute in LA, where they identified a tumor that had it not removed would have become life threatening. He died over 40 years later at a fine old age. Don't ignore tinnitus. It usually has a simple cause, but not always.

db
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