Tinnitus

Thank you so much for your support! I know that there are far worse ailments in the world, and that "fear of not being able to enjoy my stereo" is a "first world problem" of the most blatant kind. But it's good to know that I can learn to live with this and still enjoy one of my greatest pleasures. I don't know what I'd do without music.

Charles1dad --
Yes, yes, yes, I thought of this already. And yes, I'm working on that SET. :-)
Manley Mahi's sold to a local friend. Manley Shrimp being serviced at a local shop - checked over, really - so I can put it up for sale. Still waffling between the various choices. It'll all come down to my budget. As you are the "Yoda of SET Amps" on Audiogon, I will notify you personally when I've made my decision. :-D

I wear ear plugs if I'm driving more than 30 minutes, keep cell phone away from my ears, don't have the TV up too loud. All of these things help my tinnitus.
I also use headphones more than I used to as they seem to keep the tinnitus at bay.
Tinnitus is a real bitch.

I've noticed that since I've stopped using earplugs when I sleep, I sometimes wake up with water in the ear canal.
I'm very afraid of ear infections so I immediately pop a Mucinex which dries things up nicely.

As for tinnitus, I've heard caffine and alcohol contribute to this condition.

Any young ear doctors worth a damn out there?
How 'bout a fix for us old guys?

I too suffer from an intermittent tinnitus in my left ear. It is a kind of a sound you would hear between FM stations. Not particularly high in frequency but in the upper midrange. I too, went to the ENT and after getting all kind of tests, it was determined I just have a mild high frequency loss above 8KHz in that ear. Below 8K is fine. My right ear is fine.
When listening to music, I would hear an increase in noise in my left ear and it did bother me for a while. The tinnitus now comes and goes and doesn't bother my listening to any significant degree. Some days it's gone, other days it's there. I was told salt intake, stress and anxiety would increase it. ENT says with time, you become accustom to the noise like anything else and it will, at some point, not be an issue. Mine bothered me for the first 6 months or so and now I don't notice it unless I specifically think about it.
Make sure though you protect those ears from now on out. Don't listen for any appreciable time over 85db.