Hearing loss, tinnitus and speaker preference

[cubdog]

I had a hearing test this past week and as expected I have upper frequency hearing loss. My tinnitus continues to worsen. Basically you don't want my ears. This got me to thinking about the choices we make in the speakers we like. For example, I like horn speakers and have never understood those who feel they are to bright. Is there a corollary here? What do you think?

cubdog

 

[dumptruck]

I think yes. I hate to see horns generalized as a single thing, but yes.

 

[sKiZo]

I had a hearing test this past week and as expected I have upper frequency hearing loss. My tinnitus continues to worsen. Basically you don't want my ears. This got me to thinking about the choices we make in the speakers we like. For example, I like horn speakers and have never understood those who feel they are to bright. Is there a corollary here? What do you think?

cubdog

Any speaker will give you problems if the real problem, your ears, isn't addressed properly.

So what did your audiologist recommend? They should be able to tailor a hearing aid to both boost the upper end and minimize the tinnitus. The brain would much rather process external sound than whatever buzzing or ringing or whatever is internal.

If they can't help you, go see someone who can. Tell them where you're at, and not to waste your time and money if they don't have a solution.

Something else to try - tell your ear guy you want to try compensating a home stereo and have them provide you with the db ranges you're having problems with, both center freq and bandwidth. Get a good parametric equalizer and try adding those range levels to the final mix. Should work unless those freqs are just gone for you.

PS - a LOT of tinnitus issues are due to blockage or impacted wax. I assUme your ear guy has gone in and fixed that already.

 

[tomlinmgt]

Any speaker will give you problems if the real problem, your ears, isn't addressed properly.

So what did your audiologist recommend? They should be able to tailor a hearing aid to both boost the upper end and minimize the tinnitus. The brain would much rather process external sound than whatever buzzing or ringing or whatever is internal.

If they can't help you, go see someone who can. Tell them where you're at, and not to waste your time and money if they don't have a solution.

Something else to try - tell your ear guy you want to try compensating a home stereo and have them provide you with the db ranges you're having problems with, both center freq and bandwidth. Get a good parametric equalizer and try adding those range levels to the final mix. Should work unless those freqs are just gone for you.

PS - a LOT of tinnitus issues are due to blockage or impacted wax. I assUme your ear guy has gone in and fixed that already.

So since you mentioned it I've been wondering about having my ears dewaxed. Has anyone done this and if so I'd like to hear about the procedure, cost, and results.

 

[cubdog]

Any speaker will give you problems if the real problem, your ears, isn't addressed properly.

So what did your audiologist recommend? They should be able to tailor a hearing aid to both boost the upper end and minimize the tinnitus. The brain would much rather process external sound than whatever buzzing or ringing or whatever is internal.

If they can't help you, go see someone who can. Tell them where you're at, and not to waste your time and money if they don't have a solution.

Something else to try - tell your ear guy you want to try compensating a home stereo and have them provide you with the db ranges you're having problems with, both center freq and bandwidth. Get a good parametric equalizer and try adding those range levels to the final mix. Should work unless those freqs are just gone for you.

PS - a LOT of tinnitus issues are due to blockage or impacted wax. I assUme your ear guy has gone in and fixed that already.

I appreciate your concern but I understand my hearing situation. The point of this thread was how our hearing relates to our choice in speakers

cubdog

 

[Todd MacDona]

If you have loss in the higher frequencies, then a speaker that might appear to be brighter to some might sound just fine to you. Some people describe horn speakers as being that way. I like them just fine.
I would think it would add fatigue to just about any speaker you listen to. I have a touch of it, a constant high pitched sound. Never seems to go away.

 

[tomlinmgt]

I appreciate your concern but I understand my hearing situation. The point of this thread was how our hearing relates to our choice in speakers

cubdog

I'm wondering if wax build up is causing me to make the wrong/unnecessary choices.... not necessarily with just speakers but all my gear, my room, EQ settings, etc. Have you ever had yours dewaxed and if not has it come up with your audiologist?

 

[cubdog]

My ears were examined and they are clear.

cubdog

 

[cubdog]

Actually any Dr. can check ears for obstructions. Just ask.

cubdog

 

[Tom Brennan]

Is there a corollary here? What do you think?

I was having the same thoughts the other day. I no longer hear high frequency subtleties in music I used to hear plainly (the sistrum in the right channel of the overture music to the movie Cleopatra for example) and I'm probably no longer one to judge whether or not a speaker has flat, extended highs.

On the other hand if I AM hearing a great deal of highs it's probably indicitive of a rising high end. And if I think a speaker sounds earwirey Christ knows what it must sound like to those who hear extended highs (of course much screechiness is caused by frequencies in the upper midrange easily heard by those losing ability to hear true highs).

This leads logically to the notion that a speaker that sounds flat and extended to me probably isn't actually a very flat speaker and that speakers that sound extended to me might very well sound irritating to others.

 

[catfish]

I have had a hearing loss since time in the military, I am sure it has degraded over time. One of the reasons I question how far to take my found again addicition, here in the audio world. I remember hearing some La Scalas and am courious if they still sound like I remember. I feel for you cubdog, a world without music would suck. I can deal with the loss of hearing in the other areas of listining....and good choice in mutts !

 

[wiredbecker]

I feel your pain cubdog, hopefully to a lesser degree however. I haven't been able to get the buzzing out of my ears all week and it's worse with headphones on. Coincidentally my sinuses have been pretty bad lately but I don't think it's creating wax. I can clearly hear my heartbeat in my ears as a kind of rushing sound when going to sleep. Ugh. Sometimes, I hear a high pitched sound obliterating ambient noise for a second or so. This happens maybe once a month.

I'll get on the cleaning program tonight. I just feel pressure in there.

 

[EddyR]

Cubdog YES,YES. I have had many high end vintage speakers over the years. In the last five years many of my speakers didn't sound good to me anymore. I still hear the high end but midrange is distorted. Voice over the FM always sounds bad to me. By a strange turn of events I now have a set of speakers that I enjoy playing again.I came across a set of very old 1973 Magnepan's. I bought them to resell after repairing them. I have been repairing and building speakers since the 60's These had the loose wires and the tweeters were shot. I repaired them and gave them a listen in my shop and found them to be so,so. I took them into the house and added a subwoofer. I fell in love with the setup. It felt like music again for the first time in a long time. Why did it sound so good to me? I thought about this for a week and I think it is because the sound is NOT coming right at me but is filling the room and coming from all sides. I am not telling anyone Magnepans are the best speakers.bla,bla,bla. I felt they were still a little week in the top end and I added a 1/2" dome to each and they really came alive. The early one were week at the top end. I have tried subwoofers before but they never blended well for me. The old Magnepans seem to blend well with the sub. They can be found on CL or ebay with local pickup pretty cheap if they need work. I got mine for $50 on CL. The repair is easy and you do not need the repair kit from Magnepan's to do it and it will cost less than $10 to repair them.
Ed

 

[Augjer]

If it sounds good to you... keep it that way - turn it down!

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before on here, but once I bought a nice piece of equipment off a studio guy and he told me that his recently checked hearing frequency response curve was the mirror image of that of the JBL studio monitors that he had used for years...

+1 hearing loss prevention

 

[EPI-Center]

I thought of it just the opposite, I used to love my cornwalls and I had a tinnitus flareup and they had to go, they were like nails in the eardums...it makes sense thinking that brighter speakers are more acceptable with tinnitus but they actually aggravate me worse.

 

[Octaven]

[/B]

So since you mentioned it I've been wondering about having my ears dewaxed. Has anyone done this and if so I'd like to hear about the procedure, cost, and results.

If you're a diy'er, you can buy kits at the drugstore for $10.00 or less. I've used them with good results. Follow the directions and be patient.

 

[Cadillac Kid]

I feel your pain cubdog, hopefully to a lesser degree however. I haven't been able to get the buzzing out of my ears all week and it's worse with headphones on. Coincidentally my sinuses have been pretty bad lately but I don't think it's creating wax. I can clearly hear my heartbeat in my ears as a kind of rushing sound when going to sleep. Ugh. Sometimes, I hear a high pitched sound obliterating ambient noise for a second or so. This happens maybe once a month.

I'll get on the cleaning program tonight. I just feel pressure in there.

What you describe sounds like Pulsatile Tinnitus. My theory is that there is fluid in the inner ear, probably from the sinus condition, that is causing the pressure and conducting vibration from the blood vessels in the inner ear to the choclea and creating the 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh' sound. This space should be air filled, but a sinus condition could cause fluid build up and thus the tinnitus. I would guess that you also have HF hearing loss in the affected ear(s).

Ear wax may be present, but I don't think it is the cause. I may be wrong.

I have the exact symptoms. I also live in Northern California. Interesting.

Just my ideas from on-line research.

 

[Mmaxed]

I thought of it just the opposite, I used to love my cornwalls and I had a tinnitus flareup and they had to go, they were like nails in the eardums...it makes sense thinking that brighter speakers are more acceptable with tinnitus but they actually aggravate me worse.

Same here. I never did like an elevated top end. Now I can't stand it. Harsh mids are nearly as bad. As they say, you can't put enough o's in smooooth.

 

[Copa1934]

What you describe sounds like Pulsatile Tinnitus. My theory is that there is fluid in the inner ear, probably from the sinus condition, that is causing the pressure and conducting vibration from the blood vessels in the inner ear to the choclea and creating the 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh' sound. This space should be air filled, but a sinus condition could cause fluid build up and thus the tinnitus. I would guess that you also have HF hearing loss in the affected ear(s).

Ear wax may be present, but I don't think it is the cause. I may be wrong.

I have the exact symptoms. I also live in Northern California. Interesting.

Just my ideas from on-line research.

Interesting points, particularly the sinus issues. I've had sinus problems for years. The more aggravated the more I have hearing issues, like having to pop my ears more frequently. Most of my issues are with my right ear.

However, there is something else I've recently read about and that is the affect of asprin and products that have asprin (ibuprofin, excedrin, etc.). There is a correlation of hearing impairment with asprin.

OK, getting back to the subject. I don't like what are often refered to as "bright" speakers. For me personally the following fit HPM-40, JBL L88, and depending on what I'm listening to Allison CD7. On the other hand some speakers that I enjoyed the highs with are now a little dull to my ears.

One of the options you have is not to audition and simply allow your ears time to acclimatize, assuming the upper hearing hasn't dropped off significantly. The other is going with brighter speakers and using EQ to tone them back, then bump them up as time passes and you notice deterioration again.

Of my various ailments my hearing "feels" the most debilitating. I love music in a big way and having ringing, scratchy sounds and other things taking place is very irrotating since it's going on 24x7.

 

[frankxbe]

A

Actually any Dr. can check ears for obstructions. Just ask.

If he shines the light in one ear and it comes out the other side there are no obstructions ..... right ?

Hearing loss + tinnitus = speaker preference = Bose