AXPONA Feedback

Everything Else
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Anyone who preregistered for AXPONA will soon get an email asking your impressions and feedback about 2024, and suggestions for AXPONA 2025.

I intend to ask AXPONA to consider including a Master Class, or Seminar and Marketplace booth on hearing loss, hearing protection and hearing aids.

As an Audiophile who has attended AXPONA since it first arrived in Chicago.

I have noted the AXPONA Seminars tend to repeat themselves or are minor variations on the presentation from the previous year. So I do not always make a point of attending them.

I do not recall ever seeing one offered about physical hearing. Which is different than the seminar on Expanding Your Music Appreciation.

Many people have observed our audiophile population is aging and the importance of appealing to younger generations. I get that.

However why not steer into the aging skid, embrace and address a problem we all encounter at some point.

Yes, I hear the stereotype and recognize you don’t have to be old to have hearing loss.

Why not embrace the self-consciousness that perhaps comes with aging, with hearing loss, and the stigma of hearing aid use. If it means prolonging our enjoyment in music and the gear.

Since deregulation more hearing aids can be purchased over the internet, with little to no assistance, and sadly from minimally qualified and trained “Hearing Specialist”. It’s big business.

I am not an Audiologist, but I know my local Audiology Clinic offers eight different hearing aids and offers custom fitted hearing protection.

There are hearing aids that with your cell phone you can adjust for low through high frequency hearing loss. So yes, there is an App for that.

We can use hearing aids to recapture the audibility of treble, bass, soundstage, vocals and other music subtleties, and to partially block Tinnitus.

I personally advocate for hearing protection when attending concerts and when using any power equipment both indoors and outdoors to prevent the onset and worsening of Tinnitus.

I advocate for hearing protection when exposed to sudden loud sounds like shooting a gun, or even when there is a possibility of a loud noise like when inflating a bicycle tire and it suddenly explodes.

I would imagine there are Audiologists in Chicago who would welcome the opportunity of presenting a one hour talk and setting up a booth in the Marketplace.

I ask you to join with me in encouraging AXPONA to provide a hearing protection and hearing loss Master Class, or Seminar and Booth.

Perhaps the more of us who ask the greater likelihood it will happen.

Thank You.

P.S. As I get older I find it more difficult to move Amplifiers weighing 50 pounds or more. I would love to see more information, articles, rooms on smallish, possibly Digital of GaN amplifiers who may eventually hold their own against behemoths like Krell, Boulder and Gryphon.

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Excellent idea

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Very smart considering how many who can afford the mid to higher end gear are also in the age bracket where hearing loss is at its highest.

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I suffer from tinnitus, not all that bad but still an impedance. If the music is too loud, as it is in most demo rooms at the show, the tinnitus “surges” and does nothing more than give me a headache or at the very least, annoy me. It would be interesting to have some resources at the show regarding hearing.

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I would surmise that the AXPONA powers-that-be would just as soon sweep this hearing loss thing under the rug.

What’s the point of selling this pricey audio stuff if they concede that users can’t hear?

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Users, and reviewers. It’s rather embarrassing to report that over the years I’ve seen more than one or two well known reviewers who literally could not hear what was being said to them - and not from far away!

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I would like to believe with age comes experience and with that comes life lessons we wish to pass on to improve the lives and happiness of others. Making the appeal to AXPONA about education and treatment for hearing loss and prevention is one of mine.

Hearing loss and Tinnitus may be from multiple sources and not loud stereos or music. It is not confined to those who are of older age. An example of both statements is Tinnitus commonly thought of as ringing in the ears, is the number one condition seen amongst Veterans across the country and in those deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hyperacusis is increased sensitivity to loud noises and certain frequencies which may cause discomfort and is correlated with Tinnitus. Tinnitus is often correlated with hearing loss. Having Tinnitus and hearing loss does not mean you can’t enjoy music or still do critical listening. This is in part because part of our hearing is reliant on bone conduction.

I have found with continued education on hearing loss comes less fear. Which leads to a curiosity about advancing Hearing Aid Technology, embracing the inevitable and greater hope for a longer life of continued pleasure from listening.

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That sort of seminar would be an excellent idea. And maybe it would serve to raise awareness of those vendors who choose “frat-house” volumes for their presentations.

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Not just age related is correct. I saw a young man at AXPONA, maybe in his early 30s, with a hearing aid in each ear.

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That might have been my friend, Juan. He hears more than I do in detail and frequency. He and I both own the same Vivid G1 Spirits. He has all T+A gear, I have Gryphon. But with the same speakers it seems we hear the same sound. He’s already way ahead of where I was at his age. Fun!

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how is heat production? warm, hot, or hot hot?

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The Antileon EVO could heat a room, that is true. But that involved very spirited volume levels. The Apex is 60% Heat Sink, it barely gets warm. But I am using so little of its power it is really loafing.

I just went for a walk outside. It is 38F out there right now. When I opened the door to my listening room it seemed obviously warmer. No complaints.

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