Glad to hear there has been some progress.
I hope you continue to improve.
Good luck with the treatment(s).
1 Like
It’s great to hear that you are continuing to make progress. Best of luck for a full recovery.
Best wishes!
OK, hearing test done yesterday after two liquid steroid injections behind right eardrum over the course of the last two weeks, plus 60 mg of prednizone steroid per day for over 2 weeks.
So, the good news is that the right ear’s response pretty much matches the left ear. 100% comprehension of spoken words now in the right ear (WAS: 0% two weeks ago, even blasted at 90 db directly into the ear), and the frequency response curve of the right ear is within a few dB of the left now and a few weeks ago.
On the stereo, staging is back, as well as musicality of the instruments, but the right ear does seem to lack a bit of low frequency performance of the left ear (right doesn’t seem to get down to 20 Hz yet, maybe 23 or so, but not deep bass). Still seems a little sensitive, so I won’t play loud passages. The white noise and clipping that had occurred during the recovery seem to have gone, so that’s good.
But, yeah, the high frequency rolloff starts at 2 kHz and heads south to 8 kHz for both ears, so let’s just say I’m not going to be a beta tester for any PS gear from now on, but goshdarn it, I’m definitely going to enjoy what I can while I still can.
I was really looking forward to the new speakers, but we’ll have to wait and see if there’s actually any improvements I can hear. I hope so!
Oh, and I think I may have convinced Paul to consider the business case for a “BHK 550” stereo amplifier based on the P20 powerplant chassis. Paul’s made it clear he’s making the “BHK 600” monoblock pair as the ultimate amplifier for the new reference speakers (and that’s GREAT for those who can appreciate them! 
) but I’d think a stereo amp in one chassis would be a good upgrade for us BHK 250 fans who don’t want to go the hardcore monoblock route.
If the “BHK 550” is priced nearly the same as the P20 it (in my mind) would fill a price point between the BHK250 stereo and BHK300 monoblock as follows:
BHK 250 stereo: $7500
“BHK 550” stereo : ~$10,000
BHK 300 Monoblock: $15,000/pair
BHK 600 Monoblock: ~$20,000/pair
So, to me, the stereo amp based on the P20 chassis may actually be a cost-effective upgrade.
BUT: that depends on the customers and how many would actually buy the stereo version of the new amp.
I only wish I could beta test it . . . 
–SSW
6 Likes
Good news, but sobering.
And a great attitude. 
Glad to hear you are out of “The Pit”.
I would not write off your critical listening skills just yet.
IMO, a pair of young man’s ears are not a prerequisite.
Equipment tends to be musical or not. Flawed equipment comes across as non-musical. One might not to be able to discern certain frequency-dependent virtues or vices, but I’ll hazard a guess that a “seasoned” music maven that knows how to listen is every bit the qualified critic as someone half their age.
Of course, I am biased because everyday there seems to be more folks running around that are at least half my age. 
2 Likes
Great to hear things are getting better!
Great to hear things are getting better!
Many thanks!
One of the reasons I shared my tale was to keep you guys informed of the progress for recovery in case this ever happens to you. I think one of the important lessons, though, is to get over to Urgent Care as soon as you can and get started on the oral steroids and then get the liquid steroid injection behind the eardrum as soon as practicable after that.
In other words, it won’t “fix itself” if you “man up” and wait for it to heal on its own. Get help ASAP. The trouble with me was that at first I thought I had a bad dial tone on the land line phone and spent a few hours troubleshooting that (now it works! Now it doesn’t! Bad Phone Company!) and it wasn’t until I had the dial tone and trying to show my wife how bad it was that I switched ears and then suddenly realized the problem wasn’t the dial tone, it was me then overcome that shock, then call the nurse’s station and asking what to do (they said to go to Urgent Care right away after a sudden hearing loss)
So, upshot is this: May it never happen to you, but it can happen, albeit rarely.
Hopefully you all will be a lot more prepared for it than I was.
So what d’ya think? Should I start a new thread on the “BHK 550” stereo amp?
(I think it would be exciting . . .)
–SSW
5 Likes
Go for it friend! Glad to know you’re doing better.
Thanks for sharing @Streets_Still_Works! Hopefully, your ear continues to heal, and everything returns to normal. Best wishes to you.
Thank you, sir!
I think it’s just about as normal as it’s going to be from now on (hopefully I’ll get the bass response back in the right ear, but time will tell).
So all I can do is enjoy what I have for as long as I have it, and help you guys out as much as I can even past that eventual day when I won’t be able to tell the difference between a BHK and a iPod.
Thanks!
–SSW
2 Likes
Ooh, forgot to mention, now I’m recovering form a kidney stone, first diagnosed on July 11th but not removed until August 19th. As my wife said, “It’s the size of an asteroid!!!” (1/2 inch by 1/4 inch). It was completely stuck in the ureter for thew whole time. The pain actually wasn’t that bad. I’ve heard others having severe crawl-on-the-floor type of pain but that, fortunately, never hit me.
But it’s been removed now, so I just have to live with the stent until the ureter is fully healed, then that gets removed next week.
Gaah. If it’s not one thing, it’s another . . . . .
–SSW
Been there. Done that.
Good to hear your surgery went well.
Also had the “privilege” of this experience…
You have my sympathy as well as my empathy.
FWIW, as a result of that experience I now drink constantly (water and tea) all day long (my cup is rarely empty). The Type of stone I had was more a function of hydration than the balance of stuff in my urine/system.
I have not had another kidney stone since. Going on 15 + years (knock on wood).
Ask your doctor if you need to make any dietary or hydration adjustments, if you have not already.
Heal fast.
PS
That stent removal is a real trip. 
SEE
Yeah, I’ve been down that road once before.
Morphine till I felt like I had ants crawling all over me and then I puked, did nothing for the pain.
I got to watch my stent removal on the “jumbo vision” in real time, like the Discovery Health channel.
Stone free ever since.
I’ve probably passed at least 6 stones. Haven’t passed one in the last 5 years since I started drinking more water and changed my diet. As a vegetarian I consumed lots of yogurt, along with a moderate amount of cheese, I’ve since eliminated all dairy. No more stones. One product I discovered that helped eased the pain of passing kidney stones, was Chanca Piedra. Its a powerful herb that actually breaks up kidney stones. Highly recommended.
Dang! Ugh. I am glad you’re on the mend.
Glad your recovering from both. My right ear went south about a year age. Started with that blocked feeling. Then the vertigo started. Oh Oh! Did all the steroid routine as you did, but no real improvement. 8 months of incapacitating vertigo finally ended after 2 gentamicin shots into the ear wiped out semicircular canals, leaving me with hearing and balance only in the left ear.
For those of you who like wife oriented humor, remember that we have the steering on the left side in the US…
Anyway, I can forget about stereo imaging now. Good thing I have omnipolar speakers. I still do appreciate clarity and realism in a system though. Since I hear the world in mono (unless it is realy loud) anyway, it’s all good.
2 Likes
Yeah, what was odd was that the last stone I had was 17 years ago, so I thought I was doing things right since then because I didn’t have one since… But the only thing I can think of why I got it now is I must’ve changed something in my routine during the pandemic and just didn’t drink enough water. I was exercising on the spin bike regularly 3 x a week, and I thought I drank enough, but I guess I didn’t in the other parts of the day.
I did notice that I do tend to sweat more now. Was that a result of the constant exercise, or am I just getting older? But I may have lost more water through sweat than through the kidneys, and that could have caused the stone to form if there’s not enough water flow through the ureter.
Oh well, but the fix is in: just drink more water . . . .
thanks!
–SSW
MP,
I have no idea how much longer I’ll be able to have hearing in both ears before I lose it again. Even so, when I did the audio test my hearing was good enough to understand spoken speech, however, both ears rolled off in frequency to where the 2kHz response was a good 25 db below the sensitivity at 1 kHz, so what I can hear above 1 kHz is really reduced for now. And it might get worse at any time later. 
But for now I can still hear a stereo image, but I might lose it again overnight in a day. But in the meantime, I can only hope I can help out others here on the forums to where they can truly enjoy their systems!
thanks, and best of luck!
–SSW