The Advance range is generally made by the big name brands with some premium features turned off. In my experience Specsavers will be happy to outline the differences during a consultation. Bring a notepad to jot down notes in case they are reluctant to give you a printout of said differences.
Hi Sulaco, I tried it via Email and this is what they told me:
The Advance band consists of a wide range of hearing aids manufactured by different manufacturers. At Super and Elite level, they are equivalent to the branded products.
That’s pathetic, seriously why are they being so elusive? They know the exact features of the model you want to buy, and you have a right to know.
Honestly can you not find any audiologist clinic that will accept your insurance with a small outlay by yourself.
Remember also you will not be able to do any DIY, or take them to any other audiologist clinic for adjustments, as they are locked to Specsavers.
I’m in Melbourne, several years ago I purchased hearing aids from Costco. I paid the account first then I sent my receipt and copy of my account to MBP and they refunded me the $800 per aid that I was able to claim.
I know Costco don’t deal directly with health funds. Have you made an enquiry if you are able to send in your account after you have paid it?
Good luck with your Specsaver aids.
Hi Tenkan, there are others in my area but they are all expensive for what they sell. I have tried to research them and at this stage Specsavers, with all its faults, seems to be the best. Particularly if the top two levels are chosen.
My first choice was Costco and I actually had a fist session with them. It was only when I found out that they did not have the government subsidy that I had to stop the visit.
Today, I intend to contact the Australian Hearing Services Programme(HSP) and try to find out why Costco does not qualify when all the other providers do qualify.
In the meantime I would have thought that I could have found all this information via Google but, so far, no luck
1 Like
Hi Deaf_Piper, yes and no they won’t let me 
1 Like
HSA only deal with Signia aids, unless you have a CI or a child. If you have any sort of pension card you should/might be eligible for the voucher service the Government has running. This only allows for the very basic level of aid though.
Hi,
Costco do not supply their aids through HSP as they do not release their software for other clinics to use, which in Australia is a stipulation for the clinic to have access to the hearing services subsidies.
Specsavers on the other hand do allow this so if you were to get your aids at Specsavers and transfer to another clinic that clinic can get the specsavers advance software to adjust the aids, hence why their aids are elligible for Subsidies under HSP. They are not ‘locked’ to specsavers clinics for adjustments
The bluetooth television devices which connect to advance are a rebranded signia streamline TV device for the advance range made by Sivantos (Signias parent company) and a rebranded phonak TV connector made by Sonova (phonak / unitrons parent company).
At present there is a global shortage of the Sonova TV connectors so even if you did want to order one you would not be able to and sonova cannot give us an answer on when they will be available. The bluetooth transmitter from JayCar may work with the Advance made by Sonova as this brand uses a bluetooth classic protocol, although sometimes there is latency with these devices - I also had a patient connect their hearing aids directly to the TVs bluetooth with no intermediate device, although am guessing this would vary across different TVs too.
Generally I tell people to see how they go with the hearing aids alone first, and if TV is still an issue to come in ang get a TV transmitter - They do work very well and will provide the best transmission of sound, but who knows - you might find that the hearing aids work well enough on their own!
Also - last thing to consider is that the advance made by Signia will only stream audio from an iPhone / IOS device (made for iphone technology) where as the advance made by sonova will stream audio from both android and iphone - Although if you have an iphone personally I prefer the made for iphone technology.
Hope that helps.
Thanks MFAUD, it certainly does help! My TV has bluetooth in the setup and it seems to connect to most devices(so I am told).
At this stage the Super range from Specsavers has the features of Phonak Paradise 70 and research tells me that it also has a good chance of connecting to my TV.
I will do as you suggest and try them out first with no bluetooth and if it works okay then I am laughing. Otherwise I will try the bluetooth in the TV and finally a transmitter.
I have three other bluetooth transmitters for my various sets of headphones and I am thinking it might even be possible to pair with one of them…
Thanks for the information
1 Like
Costco hearing aids aren’t locked,so most clinics or DIY people already have the software, quite a few of the older models they sold were locked tho.
Have you done this yourself? All indications so far say they won’t, but good if they are doing this, as it’s always been unfair for any reason, but if you have, could you go into the software and give @philwright the list of features he’s looking for,as I’m sure that would be much appreciated.
Hope your right, there locked in most parts of the world.
So there’s 2 advance models, a Sivantos model (which one, from Signia or Rexton?) and one from Phonak, based on Paradise P70, thats confusing,but could be why even Specsavers couldn’t supply the features list!
Thanks tenkan, no wonder my poor little brain gets confused!
Sorry to hear that they avoided your query. In my case the Advance version of the Linx Quattro was missing an Impact Noise feature and I also wanted to program the hearing aids myself so I went with the official Resound model which they sold at the time.
Costco KS10 is half the price of Specsavers Elite, also a better device. Plus the TV connector which is also cheaper.
1 Like
Hi hindhaugh90, Costco in Australia is far more expensive than Specsavers because Costco does not get the $1500 government subsidy and Specsavers do get it.
My problem is that Specsavers have different models but they won’t disclose the difference between them except for the price and a star system under each category. For example the difference between the Plus and the Premium is one star extra in Phones and Outdoor Activity. For this the cost increases by $500. See what I mean here
I feel that the differences must be listed somewhere but I can’t find them.
The information that I have gleaned from this forum far exceeds the information from Specsavers.
TV Connector - if your TV has BT then you might connect directly. If you can hear your standard or sound bar from the TV then you might be happy.
But the TV connector gives you an amazing stereo experience but it might be disconcerting. Noises off screen can be really well off your screen. Also consider dialogue between two characters. The one on screen is in front of you and the other off screen. Then the camera shifts to off screen character whose audio now comes from your front. This audio shift seems odd.
I enjoy TV much better with the connector.
If they are available then I will go for the bluetooth transmitter. I currently use a Bluetooth wireless headset which gives perfect sound. If I can get my HA’s to be nearly as good then I will be happy.
Hi again,
definitely worth speaking to your clinician about this - they should be able to provide you with a full feature list on the aids you are looking at and hopefully explain what they mean - This information is sent to us by the manufacturers which is kept as a ‘professional’ reference but I cant see why your clinician would not provide it to you as some patients want to know more detail than the pretty basic star refence you see on the website and in the brochures!
And lastly - don’t want to discredit COSTCO at all. I think they do a great job of providing low cost hearing aids with great sound quality and features - the KS10 is a fantastic deal for what it is. They just cant access the HSP subsidies and for some patients are not as easy to get to geographically as there is not a huge amount of stores per state.
Phil et Al, the Phonak TV connector comes with a mains transformer but you can also connect the power from a TV USB port. Audio connection is by a standard headset jack or better, the optical port.
At one point I thought I had a fault, I was wrong, but while it was away I really missed it.
Thanks for that. The technician in me, from a previous life, is wondering if I can connect to the bluetooth unit that I use to charge my Philips’ wireless Headphones and send the tv audio to them.
Not quite clear what you are suggesting. Are you saying send the TV Audio to the wireless headphones? That could work if you pair them rather than pairing the HA to the TV Connector.
If your blue tooth charger can transmit audio as well as charge your headset and you connect your TV audio physically to that charger then yes, it might.
With some TVs, plugging in a headset jack can mute the TV speakers. Plugging in to the optical port means other can hear the TV as normal.