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.

fredcdobbs
Thanks for your responses...including those of you who don't have normal reading skills.
I am not quitting my quest. Due to not spending money in restaurants and other diversions, I will be taking some visa liberties and I will be testing more equipment. Some Parasound electronic and probably a set of Bucharest 300 speakers. Who knows?
Somehow my font has changed and I need to figure that out later. However, I have noticed that there are some really excellent near buds being made and are actually quite expensive. Seems like a lot of technology is being poured into better and better ear buds for your phone. Instead of hooking them up to bluetooth, I wish someone would make a pair quality in ear listening buds with a good microphone on the exterior.
You have all seen the cheap hearing assist devices for people who cant afford or don't want hearing aids, hunters use them to detect game etc. I want a high quart version of those things, even with a little shirt pocket amp would be great. With the size and appearance not being an issue because they would be used for indoor music and TV listening, they could be substantially bigger and better than hearing aids that have to stuff a small microphone and speaker in ones ear canal. It's the obvious choke point for better sound. Whats frustrating is they already make the high quality drivers for the inside half of the deal, they just need to add a small quality microphone to the exterior. That and a phone app to tailor the sound would be ideal. I'd be a customer for sure.
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Fred,
You idea of a high quality audio external microphone and quality phone app is an excellent thought. I hope there are engineers and manufacturers currently working on such suitable products . Music appreciation is IMO a lifelong condition once established.  I'm pretty sure that many on this forum can relate to your situation. 
Charles
I lost some low tone hearing several years ago due to a form of Ménière’s disease (fortunately I did not have vertigo).  Due to a fantastic doctor I was able to get some of it back but I am left with significant tinnitus which I have learned how to manage. I don’t go to concerts anymore unless I have significant hearing protection. In the past couple of years I have lost some hearing in the higher frequencies.  My doctor has encouraged me to get hearing aids which I have resisted. I feel like I can hear pretty well but clearly the tests show something different.  She then sent me a study published in The Lancet which found a correlation between hearing loss and dementia. Frankly that has scared the crap out of me. My biggest issue with hearing aids is the inconvenience factor but more important that it will ruin music for me.  With that said, this study has me taking a look at hearing aids. For those of us that love music, putting our resources towards the highest quality hearing technology possible instead of the next speaker or amp may be money well spent.
@bigwave1...*G*  Thanks for the advice, tho I may have to 'pick 'n choose' amongst those...and perhaps the 2 cardiologists that have a vested interest in me....;)
TAVR with an 'onboard' defib/pacemaker...the latter as part of a volunteer study nationwide study with 499 subjects and me. *S*
'New models require test drivers', and I was happy to do so.
During my rather brief therapy, I'd occasionally skip a beat or three, then resume.  Totally unnoticed, except for the RN @ the monitor....

She'd startle, look @ me....look back @ her screen...walk over...

"Did you feel that?  Feel what?
"Your heart stopped for a couple of beats."  Beats me, felt nothing...*shrug*  I'm sure you'll let me know if I don't restart....if I haven't noted such already...

The onboard unit merely monitors me.  If I miss a beat or so, the defib 'taps' my heart with the pacemaker. If I stop and stay stopped, the defib will start low @ first, rather than flooring me with the big jolt.
That...it saves for non-response to the small tap or two....

Long story, shortened to a novella:
I already take a number of drugs daily.  Eliquis and Entresto both, although both labels say they shouldn't be taken together, blood thinners, anti-chlorestrol, anti-inflam, anti-this, that, the other....D3, potassium....
to boost my resistance, fish oil, supplements...

'Breakfast #1 is 11 tabs, caps, plus an inhaler.  #2 is food.

I'm a walking lab rat.  To add anything to the routine, I consult the cardios 1st.

"You shouldn't smoke, or drink so much coffee..."

True...I shouldn't put Southen Comfort in the coffee, either.
If you want me to stop smoking, help legalize hemp in NC.
But the bright side is....These 'self-meds' keep me from strangling the random stranger, whether or not they deserve to receive such.

I bruise if you look at me hard.  The slightest scratch will make me bleed like I've hit something serious...

"You OK?!"  Yeah, just hydralic 'ooze'...let me know if I create a puddle...

If I didn't have the sense of humor that I posess, weird as it may appear...
Then you would and should be worried...

...but I'll thank you again for the suggestions. *S ;)

Cheers, J
I was told that one of the reasons not to wait too long to get hearing aids is that if your brain doesn't get the stimulation from hearing certain sounds, it will forget what they sound like. I don't know if this comes back with amplified hearing or not. Anyway, Seems a shame to throw your hearing away like that but thats just what I did. My wife got tired of "What" Remember that the hearing aids don't give you anything that you don't have now. They just amplify what is left. 
I have a DB meter app on my iPhone so I tested my system at a level I like to listen to it. I listen around 60 to 65 DB. Not loud, Its about what a friend with normal hearing uses. That said, I would need to add in any DB increase in amplification from my hearing aids. I don't want to listen too loud causing further accelerated hearing loss. 
I guess the boredom is getting to me living like an indoor cat. I did order some Buchardt's and a Parasound pre and amp. What the heck. Nothing else to do and I might like it better.