Well maybe it IS my hearing

+1 kink56 !!!!


That is the perfect post.


All I want to add is, does this training make you happy? Does this level of discernment contribute to your life in a positive way that feeds you and gives you energy to better engage your community and the rest of the world, or, is it a demanding God / Goddess with no appreciable benefit?


Like, fishing, at least you can share your catch with those you love. :)


Best,

E

One overlooked area of hearing is....wait for it....ear wax!  If you don't irrigate your ears regularly - and properly - you'll be amazed at the sound after you do.  There's only one way to do it properly, the way physicians recommend, with some was Debrox wax softening drops and an Elephant Ear Washer (google it).  Follow the directions for the drops, then irrigate in the shower with warm water.  If you've got any wax, you'll be amazed at how big a "plug" of wax can get.  You'll be turning down the volume settings on your equipment.  As for affecting music quality, the ear is a sensitive instrument.  The difference in removing a wax buildup or plug is like lifting a veil, similar to what happens when you use foam port plugs on a speaker.

Great thread. I don't have any insight to add, I just want to share my experiences. I have tinnitus and the corresponding hearing loss that causes it. I don't need hearing aids yet but have a hard time with hearing conversations clearly.

Several years ago I converted my Magnepan 1.6's to active with a Bryston 10B, gutting the stock crossovers. First - there was a tremendous difference in everything musical, no big surprise with such a dramatic change. Second - I set about measuring to try to optimize the frequency response in my room going through most of the available crossover frequencies and slopes. I noticed a strange phenomenon. When changing slopes with a selected set of frequencies the various slopes would measure the same. That gave me a baseline. When I played music to tailor things to what I like to hear and changed slopes within the same frequencies I could hear a difference. Even though they had measured the same. Someone over at the Planar Asylum suggested it was group delay that was causing the sonic differences. Makes sense, but I don't know how to prove it.

Third - When having a non "audiophile" friend over for dinner I did an experiment with cables. My CD player has two audio outs so I hooked up a somewhat expensive interconnect to one and a modestly priced interconnect to the second. After switching back and forth between the inputs with a remote while listening to music I asked my friend if he could hear the difference and he could. He could tell me which input I had selected without looking. Now, he preferred the sound of the cheaper interconnect and I preferred the more expensive one so it's individual preferences. 

Even with my hearing loss I could pick up the fairly subtle differences. Which was "better/more accurate" in both cases. I don't know. I just stay with the crossover settings and interconnects I like music played on.

FWIW
Jim S..

Rest assured that by 79 you'll probably be listening through hearing aids, as I am now.  Get good ones, and they will reach reasonably flat into the lower treble range .... enough for well-reproduced recordings of acoustic music to still have a reasonable facsimile to the real thing. 

I was really bummed when I moved and completely remodeled a large room for audio but it sounded awful. Had acoustic consultant test the room and I couldn’t hear the test signal above 10k hertz. How could I evaluate my system if I couldn’t hear?  Went to doc for tests- bottom line hearing aids to support higher frequencies. Bummed about the need for these and the “microphone” sound I hear.  My HA are high end with latest processors

it took me awhile to adjust my HA to a custom setting for my audio system. But now that I have it, I’m enjoying my music and system again. It’s different with HA, but I’m so happy I did it. My point is that our hearing is where it starts. If there a shortcoming, address it. It will extent your enjoyment and appreciation of your system. Great post Eric