Does Hearing Loss Disqualify Me from Audiophiledom?

@dadork 

Thank you for that insight.  I will be consulting an audiologist for a cleaning and have them check my pharyngotympanic tube.  And I agree with your “turn it up” approach. I would have to invest in an EQ. Any recommendations?

Was the treatment you are undergoing prescribed by a doctor?

This is exactly why I started the thread. Hopefully it will allow me the ability to hear the affect on such crazy things as speaker cable risers!

@gruvejet     Thank you.  The amount of pressure seems to determne the HF volume and the HF response can go above what I recall used to be flat.  Regulating the pressure can enable the right response to be obtained.

This is very interesting and as we both postulate may lead to a solution to our problems.  I have quite serious sinusitis that varies in intensity from time to time.  I find that having wax cleared make a bit of an improvement but nowhere near as much as pressurising.  I am wondering if a medical procedure might exist or be developed that could make permanent the pressurised effect?   Anyone here an ENT specialist who can comment with a degree of authority?

@dadork    I didn't think a mosquito sounds very HF so I looked at the paper cited.  The frequency varies by species between 340 and 750 Hz.  So not HF at all.

Great subject! I started noticing tinnitus several years ago. I went to have my hearing evaluated, and found that I struggled to hear high frequency tones above 8 kHz. I was bummed. But then I sort of “self-evaluated” my music listening, by listening to familiar music from the past that I used as demo material 30-40 years ago, to try to identify what might be different/missing. I can absolutely still pick out areas of the songs that were points I’d evaluate for sound quality, but I also noticed certain high frequency notes in some songs were “missing”, or just lower in level relative to the rest of the sounds. Last year I upgraded from Magnepan 1.7i to 3.7 speakers, which I had been putting off, thinking that the addition of the ribbon tweeter would be lost on me. That turned out to be false. I can hear and appreciate the improvement that ribbon makes in the sound presentation. How? I have no idea, but I’m glad I went for it! I’ve also been evaluating some amplifiers, to choose the best fit for my speakers/room/preferences. I can CLEARLY hear the differences between these amplifiers in my system. I’ve done phono cartridge comparisons in the last few years, and I had no problem sorting out the sounds of those. I’m in the process of working to improve what I use for streaming, and I can hear differences in quality between the music services I’m trying. I just started a Qobuz subscription to try that as well. My point is that even with the knowledge that my hearing is in decline, I can still evaluate differences in quality, and I still enjoy good sound from my system. 

@krelldreams 

Can I guess what brand of amps you have pushing those Magi's?  I would like to try to LRS plus.  I'm thinking my Krell Duo 300 XD will be able to push them properly.  3.7s are out of reach financially.  I think the Magi's would be a good contrast to my Klipsch Forte's.  The Klipsch should pair better with the Decware tube amp I'm in line patiently awaiting.