Anyone with tinnitus or hearing loss who is into "high-end" audio?


Over the last few years I have developed tinnitus and also have some hearing issues.  I am a long time music and audio fanatic.  Years ago I built my own Hafler amp.  Before that I had a great AR system.  Presently, I have, what I believe, is a pretty nice system in a dedicated listening room (about 60,000.00).  My question is if there are others of you out there in similar situations concerning your hearing issues as they relate to your love and reproduction of great sounding music?  What are your experiences? Have you found anything that helps and do you have any advice? I would venture to say that we all experience some degree of hearing loss, or hearing anomalies as we age...whether we realize it or not.  Thanks, Jim 
pfeiffer
Yes this is a great thread to talk about and compare ones experience with another. I first noticed that I had tinnitus probably after I got out of active duty. Being on board the USS D.D. Eisenhower for my first duty station with all the flight ops and such, then transferring and changing rate to an Equipment Operator with NMCB 133 and all that loud machinery. I will always remember my LPOs and job supervisors telling me to "Put your !@#$% issued ear plugs on!" and "You're gonna go deaf!" Well they were right. If hine sight were 20/20 we would all be in much better shape now. My ENT told me that you can't fix the damage but you can prevent any further damage going forward with hearing protection. So now I do just that whenever I am around anything I feel is loud. I have grown I guess use to the constant hissing in both ears. It is always more noticeable when in a quiet room. So as all of you can agree just keep on enjoying the music. 
I've  tinnitus.  Still remember the concert in Arnhem, Driving Maria.  Was right behind the sound board for the concert.  At one point I looked down and saw the DB meter and thought that this was going to hurt.  My ears normally ring after a concert, but this has been a gift that keeps giving.  I love music, but I'm not going to chance more unnecessary damage, so I don't do much live music anymore.  That's why I got into this.  Find that with a high quality system that I can listen to music at a safe level and still enjoy the hell out of it.  
I have had progressively worse tinnitus for 30 years as well as worsening hearing loss. I am 71 now and have worn hearing aids for about 20 years. I now have some pretty good aids but never do what they advertise they can. Music listening certainly suffers in the higher frequencies but it had not stopped me from enjoying the hobby. I think the wife suffers as well since she has seen it get worse the last few years. Or maybe it is an excuse...!!!!
I want to thank all of you for sharing.  Your responses have given me a lot to think about (and some hope) concerning my hearing issues.  It's almost like the floodgates opened up with so many of you sharing your stories on the thread.  After all, I think I can safely say that the very foundation of our audio hobby is listening to good music and loving great sound. The unfortunate issues with our hearing is both frustrating and scary.  This thread has been helpful...and wow, it stayed on point!  Thank you all, Jim
I have had tinnitus (no hearing loss under 6Khz) for 4 months and hyperacusis for a couple of years.  If you have either of these make sure you avoid high volume environments, or at least wear earplugs if you do.  You can get earplugs moulded to your ears with filters which take off between 10db to 30db yet do not interfere with the frequencies, so they are perfect for gigs.

I have got used to the tinnitus but to start with it sent me into a very low mental state which was very unpleasant.    The hyperacusis is more manageable though sadly I can no longer enjoy listening to my daughter play the piano - anything above middle C is painful.

The only time the tinnitus affects my music listening is in quiet passages where it sounds like a lot of tape hiss is coming through.

The hyperacusis meanwhile does make harsh top-end painful - it means I have moved from a rather brittle sounding Naim system to a velvet-like Vitus set up.