Hi guys.
I spent the last 40yrs collecting and enjoying music and equipment. I am 61yrs now and my hearing has gone downhill because of my employment. I can no longer enjoy my passion so I am selling up.
I had some great years building a sound-proofed room and stocking it with some great hi-fi gear. I've had so much fun with my music but, alas, I must give it up. I am selling my house here in Spain. My kids are grown up & flit the nest. Time for me to find a new chapter without hi-fi. (maybe a small unit). I quite fancy living on a boat for a few years on the river Shannon in Ireland.
I will disappear by the end of April. I am giving all my equipment to a hi-fi dealer here in Spain, for him to sell. If there is interest then I will provide a link. Most of my stuff is Luxman & English from 70s, 80s.. I'm still dusting boxes to see what's inside.
I wish you all the best in seeking your own Nirvana within music. I will miss the comradeship of the hi-fi community. You guys are 'solid' and resolute. Keep doing what you are doing.
I am not ready to put my slippers on. I am merely taking a left turn in my life. A new chapter.
Best wishes, Stephen
I spent the last 40yrs collecting and enjoying music and equipment. I am 61yrs now and my hearing has gone downhill because of my employment. I can no longer enjoy my passion so I am selling up.
I had some great years building a sound-proofed room and stocking it with some great hi-fi gear. I've had so much fun with my music but, alas, I must give it up. I am selling my house here in Spain. My kids are grown up & flit the nest. Time for me to find a new chapter without hi-fi. (maybe a small unit). I quite fancy living on a boat for a few years on the river Shannon in Ireland.
I will disappear by the end of April. I am giving all my equipment to a hi-fi dealer here in Spain, for him to sell. If there is interest then I will provide a link. Most of my stuff is Luxman & English from 70s, 80s.. I'm still dusting boxes to see what's inside.
I wish you all the best in seeking your own Nirvana within music. I will miss the comradeship of the hi-fi community. You guys are 'solid' and resolute. Keep doing what you are doing.
I am not ready to put my slippers on. I am merely taking a left turn in my life. A new chapter.
Best wishes, Stephen
Hats off to you, what a difficult rational decision by a true stoic. All the best moving forward.
Scott, I think I have only ever used that word 'stoic' twice in my lifetime.
I feel humbled that you use it to describe this old fart!
Thank you.
I still won't lie down, I am just navigating a sharp bend in my life. You guys should brace yourselves for the day when your ears give up. It is not pleasant.
Guys, enjoy your music & your passion of swapping boxes.
If i learned /learnt something in my music life I suggest you listen to the spaces between the tracks!
If you hear anything above 'Inky black Silence' then get rid of that box.
The art of hi-fi is to listen to total silence and then be shocked by some good music.
I feel humbled that you use it to describe this old fart!
Thank you.
I still won't lie down, I am just navigating a sharp bend in my life. You guys should brace yourselves for the day when your ears give up. It is not pleasant.
Guys, enjoy your music & your passion of swapping boxes.
If i learned /learnt something in my music life I suggest you listen to the spaces between the tracks!
If you hear anything above 'Inky black Silence' then get rid of that box.
The art of hi-fi is to listen to total silence and then be shocked by some good music.
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6L6
It is strange how lives intermingle. I was in Boulder in 1992, Colorado when I witnessed my hi-fi wake-up.
One guy was using a power saw to dismantle the pavement. His mate was using some sort of a suction vacuum cleaner to suck up the dust.
Cleanest city I ever came across! I got home and decided to make my life more structured & clean.
Hence my hi-fi. I got rid of sh1t boxes and focused on what made me feel good.
That lesson from Colorado has never left me.
It is strange how lives intermingle. I was in Boulder in 1992, Colorado when I witnessed my hi-fi wake-up.
One guy was using a power saw to dismantle the pavement. His mate was using some sort of a suction vacuum cleaner to suck up the dust.
Cleanest city I ever came across! I got home and decided to make my life more structured & clean.
Hence my hi-fi. I got rid of sh1t boxes and focused on what made me feel good.
That lesson from Colorado has never left me.
Sad to read this.
My hearing is also going downhill. I make up for it with diy speakers that suits my ears. Cannot give up music! No way.
All the best from noob in Norway!
My hearing is also going downhill. I make up for it with diy speakers that suits my ears. Cannot give up music! No way.
All the best from noob in Norway!
I'm with you, brother. Tinnitus and hearing loss here. I can still enjoy listening to recorded music, but now I must listen to the music, not the quality of the reproduction. Maybe that's a good thing...
Enjoy life, be well, be happy.
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Enjoy life, be well, be happy.
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Best wishes back.
Slippers aren't so bad. There is different energy available at our age than when we were 18. Spend that energy on something worthy.
Grant.
DO NOT DESPAIR!!!
There is a solution, it is called an hearing aid! I went to an audiogist shop and after quite a few weeks tweaking I can enjoy again my old time jazz records, these nifty little thingies are a real "ear-opener"!!! They are not cheap but for their price you don't by a decent tube-amp... I can ear again till at least 10K
Fortunately my standard Belgian health insurance helped!
Actually I don't need my Revox amp anymore because I can stream directly to these ear-plugs! But I can use them as simple amp with my hifi set and "feel" the bass e.g.
It is really another life event after living with years of slowly degrading ear loss. But you need to take the time to tweak them with the audiologist, fortunately mine, a very patient lady, tested all possible iterations till everything sounded fine. She told me she had quite a few professional musicians that she helped! There even is a version that is made especially for musicians with an even larger frequency range!
So don't despair!!!!!!!!
There is a solution, it is called an hearing aid! I went to an audiogist shop and after quite a few weeks tweaking I can enjoy again my old time jazz records, these nifty little thingies are a real "ear-opener"!!! They are not cheap but for their price you don't by a decent tube-amp... I can ear again till at least 10K
Fortunately my standard Belgian health insurance helped!
Actually I don't need my Revox amp anymore because I can stream directly to these ear-plugs! But I can use them as simple amp with my hifi set and "feel" the bass e.g.
It is really another life event after living with years of slowly degrading ear loss. But you need to take the time to tweak them with the audiologist, fortunately mine, a very patient lady, tested all possible iterations till everything sounded fine. She told me she had quite a few professional musicians that she helped! There even is a version that is made especially for musicians with an even larger frequency range!
So don't despair!!!!!!!!
Tinnitus and loss of high frequencies in one ear. At 65 it’s only downhill from here I’m afraid. I sympathize with your decision, may you find happiness and a good life after this. I’m not ready yet and fortunately still derive great joy from my music and systems.
Ho well, I also have tinitus in my right ear, I admit working with "sound" more than 20years... and sometimes an irresponsible person puts the amps (multi-KW) full power AND after that plugs in the source while you are working on the cabling of the speakers... and didn't put ear protection because powering up was not planned yet... Had a few serious arguments with so-called audio technicians.
But my earing aid does mitigate tinitus, you should try! (you can always test these things for free!) There is a mode on these that you can choose if the whistle in your ear is becoming louder, it helps for me. But actually you have to ignore tinitus, it's the best way! Anyway at 70 I have to live with and there are still other nice things in life!
But my earing aid does mitigate tinitus, you should try! (you can always test these things for free!) There is a mode on these that you can choose if the whistle in your ear is becoming louder, it helps for me. But actually you have to ignore tinitus, it's the best way! Anyway at 70 I have to live with and there are still other nice things in life!
The most extraordinary story I have ever heard about deafness was Beethoven.
Continued to make beautiful music after his ears were shot. He could hear it in his mind.
My mother was deaf as a post. We compensated, and frankly I never noticed. Played the hardest game of Canasta I ever encountered.
Continued to make beautiful music after his ears were shot. He could hear it in his mind.
My mother was deaf as a post. We compensated, and frankly I never noticed. Played the hardest game of Canasta I ever encountered.
Attachments
Your story is sad to read, but you are making a wise decision.
From time to time I go looking for diyAudio members who have not posted in over a year, I try to check up on them. I hear from about half of them, most of them say have moved on to other hobbies and that's often because of hearing problems.
Living on a boat is fun, I miss it. It's truly a more expensive and time consuming pastime than audio. Best wishes.
From time to time I go looking for diyAudio members who have not posted in over a year, I try to check up on them. I hear from about half of them, most of them say have moved on to other hobbies and that's often because of hearing problems.
Living on a boat is fun, I miss it. It's truly a more expensive and time consuming pastime than audio. Best wishes.
Good luck to you. I also have rather severe hearing loss and have worn hearing aids for about a decade. I continue to enjoy both live and recorded music although the experience is not the same as in my younger years before my hearing went downhill. If you haven't yet looked into hearing aids I would encourage you to do so, they take some getting used to but are very much worth the effort! There are some modest compensations, my wife will often mention noises (wind blowing, thunder, etc.) that kept her awake during the night and my response is always, "What noise?" Life goes on!
For me the biggest issue with my Oticon hearing aids is getting them caught in over the ear straps when taking off a COVID mask, and while you can stream to them the FR and fidelity is a joke compared to say a pair of Sennheiser CX 400 BT.
Maybe someday, as your sailing west thru Limerick as the sun is going down, outlining the city, you will hear music wafting thru the air...and everything will be all right with the world.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Rick.....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Rick.....
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Welcome to Ireland (if you end up here!).
You don't need advice from me, but I would say to you to keep the nicest source, amp and speakers, you never know you might enjoy them in the new location.
You don't need advice from me, but I would say to you to keep the nicest source, amp and speakers, you never know you might enjoy them in the new location.
My tube life began when a neighbor gave me his tubes and tube tester. He gave them away because he was losing his hearing.
The neighbor and I spent a lot of time on email talking about vacuum tubes and tube amplifiers. He knew I was interested in music reproduction because I walked by on my way home from work and could see the tubes glowing and heard music. I started talking to him everyday after that for several years.
Understood that you're losing your hearing at a young age. Sorry about that. I've got tinnitus, but I can still ignore it most of the time.
Good luck on your sea adventure.
The neighbor and I spent a lot of time on email talking about vacuum tubes and tube amplifiers. He knew I was interested in music reproduction because I walked by on my way home from work and could see the tubes glowing and heard music. I started talking to him everyday after that for several years.
Understood that you're losing your hearing at a young age. Sorry about that. I've got tinnitus, but I can still ignore it most of the time.
Good luck on your sea adventure.
I was able to halt my hearing loss and even improve a bit by strictly avoiding loud noise at work and live bands. Anywhere suspect I take ear plugs with me
Wonder if there’s any truth to this? Signs Point To A DNA-Altering Audiophile Vaccine Available In The Coming Months | Audioholics
Edit......just seen the date of the article was April 1st! 🙄
Edit......just seen the date of the article was April 1st! 🙄