2. amps-preamps
  3. 1286927803

High End Audio and Your hearing as you get older

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I understand that your hearing decreases as you get older. Does it decrease to the point where at say, age 70, a mid-fi preamp and cd player sounds just as good as a high end preamp and cd player.

I'm 57 now, but wondering if when I'm 70, all this hi-fi stuff will sound the same as mid-fi stuff to a pair of old ears.
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mitch4t
don_c55
1,025 posts
 
Absolutely Not!
reylon
47 posts
 
J.K. Pushing 100.Let's ask him.I can guess his answer.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,707 posts
 
Perhaps eventually but the loss in presbycusis is of sensitivity (not absolute) and it is, progressively, from the very highest frequencies down. Even with increased thresholds down to 10KHz (and at 68, I ain't there yet), most of what makes music interesting and subtle is still discernible and enjoyable. Sure, the highest overtones are gone but they contribute surprisingly little except in A/B comparisons.

Kal
tpreaves's avatar
tpreaves
2,687 posts
 
I'm 53 and I swear I hear better now than at 33!!Maybe it's because I've got better equipment now,who knows!!
mechans
3,048 posts
 
I have to agree with Tpreaves for now.
My listening pleasure and my ability to hear most positive attributes that we describe in the sound from our better stereos makes listening an absolutely glorious experience at my age - 51.
When I hear the level that my elderly parents have to turn up the volume on their TV I do wonder.
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