Widex, Oticon, and Phonak. Are the names that come up on a search. I would not scrimp on this purchase. Think of it like an addition to your system, you most likely wouldn’t be putting a WIIM mini on a McIntosh.
Hearing Aids
I have used hearing aids for 20 years, but primarily for understanding voices in movies and TV. I was considering selling my Merlin TSM speakers, but in the meantime, my wife and family were starting to complain about my hi fi levels. I put the aids in, and...WOW....what a difference in clarity and depth! Why the heck didn't I try this sooner? This was one reason why I decided to stick with the Merlins. Well, as luck would have it....I have lost one of my aids. They (Phonak) were going on 10 years old so maybe it’s time to upgrade those. However, my insurance plan will only pay $1200 towards new hearing aids. The Phenol, at least 10 years ago, were quite pricey. Any thoughts from this sage group?
- ...
- 60 posts total
Get some new hearing aids with a hifi music setting. Costco carries phillips with this feature. traditional hearing aids are focused on making you understand voices so they are not great for full range sound--like music. the hifi music setting flattens your frequency response and makes it like you have 20 year old ears again--well, maybe 35. Jerry |
I've worn hearing aids for over 20 years, and had gotten used to spending $8K every 4 years or so for a new set. Last year I heard about the Costco hearing aid department, so I checked it out and got a pair of Jabra hearing aids for $1500; these are not OTC, these are prescription hearing aids, and they're like last year's top of the line, so it's not bargain basement stuff. Costco carries two other lines of hearing aids too, behind-the-ear and in-the-ear, and they're all about $1500/pair. |
I was the OP on a hearing aid forum similar to Audiogon, looking for the best HA for audiophiles. Very interesting observations. Worth the read for hearing aid users. |
I have the Phillips from Costco and the only setting that makes music listenable is the hi Fi setting, but even that is iffy. I was at an opera recently and they were so screechy in the treble that I removed them. I also don’t like streaming music through these buds. Very distant and muffled sounding. Any set of buds or over the ear headphones sounds infinitely better. And others around me can hear the music, even when fiddling with the dome’s position in the canal.
I bought a pair of Jabbra earbuds for around $100 just to get used to the company, and considered getting their more expensive over the counter aids that were mentioned up thread. The buds sound great; when they pair. I use an iPhone and I have to go through the pairing process every time I try use them. Sometimes it doesn’t happen. And when it does happen, you can’t tell it from the Jabbra app; it still shows them as unpaired even when music or speech is coming through. Searches have revealed this to be a common issue with Jabbra buds at all price levels of buds, so it has scared me off of the OTC Hearing Aid. My Phillips buds are a year and a half old and I am treating this as the next big upgrade . I would be willing to shill out anywhere from 5-10 K if I thought a product was worth it but I haven’t identified one that is. I will be monitoring this thread with interest. |
- 60 posts total