Does Hearing Loss Disqualify Me from Audiophiledom?


For one thing, it makes it really challenging to take advice from the experts with good ears.  As a result of loss in the higher register, tinitits and unbalanced hearing, I tend to go for dynamics and soundstage as opposed to accuracy and subtleties.  How do others who suffer from hearing issues "offset" their challenges?  Can we still be in the club?

Current Rig - Bluesound Node 2i > Danafrips Ares II > Freya + > Krell Duo 300 XD > Forte IVs / SVS PB 4000.  In case you have suggestions...

And yes, the Forte's can be a bit bright and fatiguing with certain music.  

gruvjet

@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.

@gruvjet : I doubt there is a Krell amp ever made that would be uncomfortable driving Maggies (how they may sound is a different matter)… I haven’t heard them all, of course, but I have heard many. One of my favorites was a KSA 250. I had auditioned newer models during the time that I owned it, but that one was best, overall, in my opinion. The amp I’m using now that sounds the best (so far) in my room, in my system, with my music, at the volume level at which I listen, is a Music Reference RM 10. I even preferred it to Music Reference’s own RM 200, which I purchased new from Music Reference. 

I don’t believe hearing loss disqualifies someone one bit.  
I suppose providing this info when conversing with others on the finer points of audio quality may be a fair self-qualification to one’s assessment of stuff. Perhaps, “I found the high frequency response lacking, but I also have hearing issues, so…”

Something like that may be fair, but these issues really don’t render a person’s assessment “inadmissible,” or whatever, in my opinion.

There is commonly seen, a mixed thought on what is Audiophile.

There is the Camp that lean toward the idea, it is the enjoyment of music and enthusiasm to maintain musical encounters as a replay of recorded music.

There is the Camp that lean toward the pursuit of High Fidelity (HiFi) as a result of the equipment in use, it does seem the more you have owned and the more one has spent on equipment, gives qualification to be a member of this camp.

The purchasing and moving through equipment Type/Designs does seem fitting, as High Fidelity (HiFi) was born in the 50's, and was first seen as a Sales Spiel by a certain Brand. As a term, it has been quite successful and endlessly plagiarised since. 

I am leaning toward the idea, a Audiophile enjoys Music and has the enthusiasm to create musical encounters, through the use of recorded music. Within this enthusiasm there is the need to have a concern about the equipment/tools required to enable it to happen. Experiences had, that expose an individual to an increased variety of types of equipment/tools, will show that some are more attractive in use that others.

The equipment is a means to an end, where the user decides where they are most contented with the assembly in use. It is their own level of satisfaction that is the most important, certainly not what others Purport through a forum.         

@carlsbad

"Go to costco and get a pair of the current Phillips hearing aids fitted to you. they will flatten out the frequency response and levelize your ears. "

Thanks for the tip. I’ll try to remember this the next time I go to Costco for an $8 bag of chips and walk out after spending $300.