[John Casler]

Hi John,

You mention the loss of the ability to hear high frequecies that is normal with age, I am 54.  What do you, Brian and others believe is the value of extended response to an older listener.  I find myself more sensitive to the lower treble not less so as I age.  I am curious as to the interaction of the upper treble on the rest of the audio spectrum and in particular for me the sensitiive lower treble.

Hi Turk,

While hearing ability is almost as "individual" as a fingerprint, it is even further affected by the fact that it "adjusts" as we age.  The problem is that this adjustment is not the same in everyone.

Just like eyesight, some begin losing significant High Freq abilities, early and some later.  Additionally environmental factors can enter into the loss like exposure to high SPLs and such.

But, this "loss" is not total in most cases, but "rolled off", which means that you still hear those frequencies, it just takes higher SPLs to take them into our awarness.

Your sensitivity to a specific frequency group might mean your tympanic membrane is (or has been) damaged and scarred.  Many times this comes from ruptured eardrums that occured when you were a child (probably an ear infection when you were cutting teeth).

Later in life as your HF hearing begins to "drop/roll off" it reaches the resonant frequency of the scar tissue and "Bob's your Uncle",  a sensitivty arrises.

Now this is just one scenario of many.  Generally with healthy Ear Drums "extended frequency" speakers and systems will help ameliorate this sensation, by adding in all the harmonic over and undertones that, even though we may not "hear" them conciously, produce a "smoothness" to the sounds we do hear.

This and these physical differences, coupled with significantly different systems and rooms, make advice of others a truly "risky" business.

I have been in listening sessions where my perceptions were "quite" different than some one else.  And their's different than someone else.

What does this mean?  Is someone "deaf" if they can't hear what you hear?  Of course not.  They just have different hearing abilities, listening preferences and listening skills.

While it might seem that "Super Hearing" might be preferable, many times it is so sensitive that it cannot be enjoyed.  Women are a good example.  We may be listening to something that sonds so good we have to get our wife or girlfriend to hear it and they think it sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard.

The secret is to hone you listening skills within your abilities, and design and assemble your room and system to "YOU".  If you are doing it to impress your friends, you may not succeed, since they don't share your same listening asset combo.

But to answer your question, I think full range systems will sound better than limited range, to those who have limited hearing because some of the things we don't (or can't) hear affect some of the things we do.

[Turk]

Thanks, John,

Interesting comment about the difference from hearing loss, what I would describe as the inability to hear and reduced sensitivity which I take you to mean the need for higher volume levels for audability.  This leads  me to ask if I play the music louder will I be aware of frequencies that I otherwise would not at lower volumes?  This is an interesting issue.

Thanks,
Jerry

[Tyson]

If you suffer from tinnitus, that will make you more sensitive to low treble.  Combine that with age related hearing loss and you become very sensitive to speakers with low treble emphasis or hardness.  That's why young people like Paradigm speakers and older people like Dynaudio or Sonus Faber (huge, gross generalization, but you get my point).

[John Casler]

Thanks, John,

Interesting comment about the difference from hearing loss, what I would describe as the inability to hear and reduced sensitivity which I take you to mean the need for higher volume levels for audability.  This leads  me to ask if I play the music louder will I be aware of frequencies that I otherwise would not at lower volumes?  This is an interesting issue.

Thanks,
Jerry

Yes, that is true.

Fletcher and Munson (or maybe it was Fletcher Munson) studied this many years ago and it led to many amps and receivers having a "loudness" switch.  The hearing curve diference at high and low SPL's was called the Fletcher Munson effect. (do a Google)

The loudness switch activated an equalization curve boosting both high and low frequencies at low SPLs.

So all of us have ears that are selective to the midband and at lower levels we lose the ability to hear the highs and lows as well.

As we age this "curve" gets worse and it takes higher levels to acheive perception.

Tyson's comment about "tinnitus" is also true and the ringing is thought to be the transmission of impules or the perception of impulse (HF) when none is actually present.

This ringing creates a "threshold" beyond which external SPLs at that frequency must surpass to give us "sonic satisfaction/perception" at that frequency.

Kind'a like a "signal to noise" rating.  The ringing is the noise, and the signal must be greater to dominate the senses.