hearing loss and speaker selection

I’d start using some kind of equalizer to help even things out.  Or, if it’s that bad headphones might bring you more happiness.  Best of luck. 

MC Thank you for the detailed scientific insight and for your time! As they say, Youth cannot be denied that is except for the ability to hear above 17,000Hz. Frankly, I am surprised I’m not totally deaf for all the Led Zepplin, Who, Stones, etc. blasting away on my Snell C2mk2 back in my youth and continuing to today but with a different system and a different musical focus.

AKG I’m with you I’d go for the mids hells bells even without a hearing deficit I prioritize the midrange my Cantons are strong in that range.

Oldhvymec Thanks also good information, planars and or Ribbons and EQ.

Someday I hope to give both a try. I just hope I have a few some days left in the tank. I’d love to listen to some Maggies and Martin Logans Unfortunately, I do not know anyone in my area that shares my curiosity about gear. The one good store Audiolab in Morrisville Pa. I could visit but I would feel guilty going in just to hear their gear with no intent of buying, the libra in me just won’t let me. Decades ago when I was a kid I’d drive an hour to listen to systems at Soundex in Willow Grove. They knew I was a kid and let me listen to their 6 figure system and other megabuck rooms that they had set up. That seed got me to buy my Snells and Adcom system a decade later and 40 years from then I still got an itch lol.

Soix I have Focal headphones they are sweet( little bass shy) but I like to listen to my Cantons.

There is something related to age, don't know the reason why yet, but a lot of stuff that younger ears take as detail we find increasingly annoying, fatiguing, sometimes even painful. Fortunately the same things that improve sound quality also improve this annoying aspect of aging. A lot of the things I have done the last year or so both improved my system and did so in a way that made it a lot easier to enjoy. For the most part this was eliminating ringing and resonance with things like springs and Townshend wire, and also better quality parts like caps and resistors in crossovers. These all improve detail not by "making" more detail but by eliminating a lot of extra noise. Kind of like the way it is easy to hear someone talking across the dinner table at home, but not across the dinner table in a noisy restaurant. Their voice is just as clear in both cases but you have to work a lot harder in one to separate their voice from all the rest.

This greatly reduces the strain you feel listening to music. I find myself able to relax more into it. Also find a much wider volume range enjoyable. Bottom line you can still get a lot out of it. I sure hope so. 75 is only 11 years away for me!

to the OP. You didn’t get completely accurate advice. Not all hearing tests are sine waves. You might consider one of the six or so helpful SIN ( speech in noise ) tests available. There are several high end audio companies that devote time, resources and money towards hearing loss prevention. My mentor runs one of them. Your Snells were a classic. Enjoy the music. BTW i ran a pretty noisy airplane factory, i know the standards, how they were established and most importantly the havoc wrought on those who didn’t take the personal protective equipment seriously- somehow i got by with a lot of live rock as a kid. my best to you !

Jim

MC good for you, 86 articulate, intelligent, opinionated, helping others, and busting chop all the while still pursuing your bliss!

Tomic Thank you for your concern I took a couple of those SIN online and my hearing was fine for my age if not a touch better. Those Snell were fantastic. Outside of music my ears were not exposed to high dB. That is except for the two days I lasted on an assembly line making Mustangs during my college summer break. At the time I was waiting for the lottery to see who gets to go to Vietnam. Let me just say Fredric Taylor's  Schmidt the pig ironworker is alive and well on the auto assembly line. It was a fascinating two days for a kid at the time studying factory organization and management!  Jim congratulations on an impressive career in an ultra stressful job talk about responsibility! Deming's philosophy looms large as each of your products must be perfect as lives depended on it.