Sorry, my life got nuts for a bit and I did not have a chance to check back in here. I had to put my purchase of hearing aids on hold because of a possible job change, which is now a definite, and in the end I may have most/all of them paid for by my new company, which is a good thing.
I went back to the ENT audiologist I had originally talked to, when I tried out the Phonak V70/90, and we tried those again, in addition to the Signia Primax 7 and one other brand I can’t recall. I found that for me I actually heard voices much more naturally with the Primax than with the Phonak, and I liked the “ocean wave” tinnitus sound - seems more soothing than the white noises I had heard. The other brand I tried sounded too tinny and just not realistic for me. I told the lady that I had started talking to Costco for price reasons, and she encouraged me to do so. She recommended that I focus on the Phonak and Rexton, and did not recommend the KS6 (please do not take me to task about this - it was her recommendation, and as someone with 30 years in the business, I am inclined to trust her). She said that given that I liked the Signia better, I was also likely to prefer the Rexton, but to try both. I also asked if there was anything she could do on price, and she said she’d talk to her rep, and we’d talk again once I went to Costco.
I did end up going to a different Costco from the one I first went into, and had a much better experience with the person there. I tried the Brio and the Trax 42 in the store, and the other audi was right. I heard everything I wanted to hear with both aids, and fairly well, but I heard all sorts of things I really did NOT need to hear with the Brio. I told the tech at Costco that, and he said that the noise reduction on the Trax is more aggressive out of the box, and that it could be adjusted on the Brio, but overall I just felt the Trax had a more natural sound. We set an appointment for a fitting about 10 days out, but I told him I was still talking to the other place, and he said he’d be amazed if they came down that much.
I got a call back from the other place, and wow, they really did manage to get a lower price. The Trax42 is $2600 at Costco, including a SmartConnect. The price they offered on the Primax 7 at the other place, including the easyTek (which I gather is the same hardware but possibly slightly updated firmware, though I’m not sure about that) and a TV transmitter, is $3600. Their original price just for the units had been $6200. Between the fact that it is newer technology, it includes the tinnitus sounds (which I may or may not need in the end once I start using them, but if I don’t have them then by definition I can’t use them), and that there is simply no way Costco can provide the same service and level of experience I can get from the other place, it is worth the extra $1k to me, so I am going with them. I need to wait until June 1 when I change over to the new benefits, and I am counting the days!
All that said, I would happily have bought from Costco had the other place not come down so much on price. I would say I had a positive experience with them, and would likely have been happy with the Trax42, but since I could go with newer tech for a price I could live with, it just made sense to go that route.
I’ll post my audiogram soon - I don’t have it with me at the moment. It is fairly straightforward high-frequency hearing loss, with the low point firmly in the “moderate to severe” range, nearly identical in both ears.