Diminishing hearing ability?

What is a great listening experience? Is it the sound? The music? A combination of both I expect. Audiophiles, when we obsess about the sound of our rigs, will play those familiar cuts, over and over, that we use for intellectual analysis of the performance characteristics of our systems. But I suspect a great listening experience to be more connected to our emotional response to the music. Rather than obsessing over the nature of the cymbals, the resonance of the bass, how about connecting to the artistic performance? - of new or unfamiliar music? Certainly, I, along with others I might assume, are guilty of the analysis posture - which might include assessing our diminishing hearing. But, on occasion, to relax and be open to music itself, might and can provide the possibility of the great listening experience. IMHO

Anyone ever have an "ear tune-up" (short of a hearing aid)? May be the best tweak of all!!!

Very much so, in my case. I see an ENT (ear, nose, & throat doctor) every 6 to 12 months to have wax removed from my ears. Just about every time he removes significant amounts of wax from one or both ears, and it certainly makes a difference.

I started having that done about 10 years ago, when I found that I could barely hear people on the telephone when it was placed against one ear, although everything was fine with the other ear. The dr. removed a large amount of wax from the problematic ear, and it instantly returned to normal.

He has said that wax buildup has no predictability, or even any consistency in how it occurs in a given patient from year to year.

Regards,
-- Al

When you were building your system, did you go around with the same 5 or 10 demo CD's and use the same test tracks over and over again? When you do stuff like that, the system you end up with will probably sound good with your test CD's, but not the music you really listen to.

Al is correct - I also have had wax removed by a doctor a couple of times over the last three years. One thing you do NOT want to do, though, is try to remove it yourself with a Q-tip. Look up remedies for "swimmer's ear" if you want to find out about some safe home remedies.

As someone who has been hearing impaired for over fifty years, I strongly suggest you find a experienced audiologist who works with musicians. Yes, wax removal is a must, but you also need to know what you are capable of hearing. An initial full spectrum hearing test will give you a benchmark to actually help you define 'diminishing'. For further remarks check out my recent interview with Jim Smith of 'Better Sound'.