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I have an idea for dealing with my hearing loss (long and probably boring)

As I've grown older I've sustained considerable hearing loss in my right ear. The good news is that the imbalance is not caused by any shady situations inside my cranium (like a tumor or something). The bad news is that this affects my ability to enjoy my system. Late last year I posted a message on General asking for feedback from other inmates about hearing aids. There were a lot of very helpful responses, and I plan to acquire one when I finally stop procrastinating.

But I'm also considering an additional strategy, one that involves replacing my preamp. My current preamp is a VAC Renaissance MkII. I love it. It's a pleasure to the ear and the eye. But like most high-end preamps, it lacks a balance knob, and it wouldn't even think of including tone controls. I think you can guess where I'm heading with this.

Much as I would hate to say good-bye to the VAC, I'm considering replacing it with a preamp that has a balance control. But the heresy doesn't end there: while I'm at it, I'm considering a preamp with well-designed tone controls in the hope that recordings can be tailored to my compromised hearing. Plus I have a lot of reissued Columbia recordings (Walter, Szell, Ormandy)and I've often thought that many of them would benefit from a bit of nip-and-tuck (taming the treble a little, boosting the bass a little).

So there you have it. A logical candidate is McIntosh, which does not shrink from features that other high-end companies eschew. I therefore would ask you two questions. (1) Am I about to make a HUGE mistake? (2) If not, do you have other candidates that are worthy to be considered? Note: I have Vandersteen 5 speakers with balanced crossover boxes, so XLR outputs are a must. I welcome your responses and thank you for them.

Disclaimer: my post should in no way be read as a criticism of VAC's design. I have no issue with them; the gear sounds great. I'm just at the point where I might need the system to accommodate itself more to my limitations.

"Golden years" my foot. Getting older is a pain in the neck (along with several other regions).

Thanks, folks.


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Topic - I have an idea for dealing with my hearing loss (long and probably boring) - Doktor Brahms 10:35:27 07/11/15 (24)

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