High End Audio and Your hearing as you get older

At 56, my hearing ability has suffered as evidenced by my inability, at times, to hear someone talking directly to me in a noisy environment. But put me in front of a system and all bets are off concerning the limits of my hearing. Just like speed reading is nothing more than training the muscles of the eyes to focus on a larger portion of the page, one's hearing acuity is improved over time and with practice. We hear things about 50 milliseconds before we see things when they are less than about 10 meters from us. Our hearing developed long before our vision did all those many years ago. We react faster to sound when startled. Sensitivity to sound decreases as we age but acuity can and does improve. All it takes is a 'hint' of the sound and our brains fill in the rest.

Nonoise, I suspect that brain filling might become fatiguing, and without the regular calibration that younger folks enjoy, perhaps even unreliable. As the clip that Ballan linked suggests, that doesn't mean that our listening experience is without merit or even potential growth. It just might be different.

Not directly related, but pretty close. I heard (I think it was on NPR) recently that all folks that ride motorcycles without helmuts or hearing protection of some sort will have significant hearing loss as they age (age = more exposure). Of course, "significant" is relative. The loss is due to the wind noise & not loud mufflers...

Something I'd never considered..but not being a motorcycle rider, it's just interesting to me. If there are any riders hear..think about it..

Fess-up time:--ya,so I'm close to 73---Hey it ain't my fault I was born before some of ya'all.(Or is that 'most of--)
Within "The Wall's" "Comfortably Numb" as the guy is doing his fix/the needle's pin prick is now much harder to hear/ much harder to discern / than it was back in the '80s/ on cheap mid fi stuffs. That tells me a lot.
On the other hand when I added Tara's Zero Gold ics; that improved everything so much that I still enjoy changing for the better;along with my basic love for music/even if my hearing is less. This is a common philosophy of life in so many areas.--Or to quote Clint: A man's gotta know his limitations.--And in so doing see the glass as 1/2 full.

If ones hearing depreciates as such, then one more reason to get the good stuff now. I do feel and experience listening better if not hearing as well as I get older. Another aspect of better gear is the simple joy of owning better gear in look and feel. Enjoy it for a long as your ears will allow. Music makes life sweeter at any age.