Hi Chuckster and Dondeziner,
Thanks for your replies. Sounds like you both prefered the Verite over the Cobalt or Kirkland HAs. The Verites appear to have an unusually high form factor (more roundish) than the more longish Cobalt or Kirkland HAs. Did you find them harder to wear and more conspicuous? Especially with glasses since I wear glasses 24/7.
Bottom line though is speech recognition and more natural sounding. I don’t need bluetooth. Thanks,
HiFreqLoss
Hi Rkd
The Cobalt 16 deffinately has abit more fiiting room as far as fitting hearin loss, the KS gems are meant for mild to moderate hearing loss. As far as prices US versus Canada, I talked to a lady who worked in a Costco in Haiwii in a hearing centre. We worked out the price difference on the Cobalt to only be about $250 cheaper there than in Canada. So not too much difference.
Hello HiFreqLoss,
I wear glasses and didn’t have a problem at all with the Verite. They are very small and I personally think the design is pretty cool looking. When I had them on, you had to look very hard to see them. I am on week one with Phonak Smart III’s and might do a trial with the Verite’s and see how they perform. I have tinnitus and that definitely has an impact on speech recognition. The ringing sound is always there no matter what! I too am only intersted in improving my ability to help me from asking people to repeat themselves. Once you decide, no matter what pair, you will see significant improvement. People at Phonak said there is real no big advantage getting the most expensive units if you don’t need all of the bells and whistles.
I would love to drive a ZR1 Corvette but find that the C6 does just fine. Like I had mentioned, if money is no object, trial the most expensive. The Verite is ranked very high with it’s technology when compared to other HAs. Don’t think that just because Costco carries them they are second rate. All of these smaller HAs are very discrete. Once you start wearing them you forget you even have them on (provided the receiver or dome is fitted properly).
If you don’t like the Verite’s shape, I would definitely try the Kirkland. I might even trial that one compared to the Verite. Not sure yet. Members give both units high marks.
That’s really helpful info since I have an appointment at Costco. If I’m reading the posts on these forums correctly, I think the Cobalts are made by Siemens and Siemens seem to have more complaints of feedback issues. I’ll be sure to try the Verites and the Kirklands if my fitter allows it.
Thanks,
HiFreqLoss
Rexton is a Siemens brand and they make the Cobalt 16 and Gem 12. The Kirkland Signature Premiums are Gem 12 aids. The Cobalt and Gem are similar to the Siemens Pure line of aids.
That’s really helpful info. Thanks for taking the time.
HiFreqLoss
It is my understanding that these are the same aids as one of the Rexton Gem models made by Seimens. I have moderate hearing loss and they work very well for me. Before making the purchase, I struggled with thinking that I should get a more expensive set of aids. I am glad that I went with the Kirkland model. Two minor regrets: (1) I bought the remote. It is unnecessary since you can more conveniently change the program with a button on either aid (Costco told me I did not need it but I thought I knew better). (2) I did not know you could get an extra retainer that holds the dome in place securely. I had some trouble with having the domes pop out until I found out about these retainers. I wish I had not waited a year before asking Costco if there was anything that could be done to avoid the “pop-out”. BTW they do not make the aids more visible.
Cosco also provided free loss/damage insurance and a free dryer. I have been very satisfied with their service.
The pop out retainer came a little late for me as I lost two and I also have a problem with the domes coming off and lodging in my ear. Insurance covered one but since they were in the same ear they did not cover the second loss. ( I now have a problem with the retainer poping out) My grandkids tell me I have a string coming out of my ear, I kind of wish I went for a more expensive aid but in the end it is the fitter that is the most important. All Costco hearing centers are not created equal.
I ended up going with the Costco BTE Rexton Cobalt 12s at the Costco’s hearing specialist’s recommendation. They seem to be working fine so far though I never did try other different brands.
Regarding the domes coming off in the ear, the specialist said they will replace them about every 2 to 3 months at no cost to prevent that.
HighFreq
I asked the hearing specialist at Costco for some extra domes last week and she said that it is Costco’s policy not to give their customers extras because the customer may replace them incorrectly and get it stuck in their ear canal.
I was also told to come back every 3 months for complimentary cleaning and dome replacement of my Rexton Cobalt 16’s.
That is good information. I had my hearing aids for a year now and never realized that Cosco offered tis service. Thanks
So glad I was able to help!
I suspect they are not “buying in bulk” so much as the mfg knows (or Costco agrees) they will buy a TON of them in a year.
I hear nothing but good things about Costco aids and their audis
My Costco just gave me a half dozen. No charge.
I have been getting the domes 6-8 at a time, no questions.:rolleyes:
I just got the Kirkland HA’s at Costco two weeks ago, my first HAs.
Damage due to shooting small arms over decades.
Had my first re-fit today, bumped them up a bit, added a profile for music.
They are comfortable, work very well, I could never go back to not having HAs.
Costco cannot be beaten for service and their 90 day 100% return policy is three times the 30 days required by law (Washington State). No sales tax on HAs in WA State.
I paid $1999 for 2 aids and a full kit including 10 zinc-air batteries and 2 rechargables with a dryer/recharger and other stuff. Apparently this is a bargain, I’m very happy with mine and with the audiologist.
You can go to any Costco in the country. You don’t have to go to the one you bought from.
That’s another big advantage for people who travel, or move. Others dealing with an audiologist can usually get service on the road but often have to pay extra when it would be included if they were at home. Of course, Costco can be a lo-o-o-o-ng drive from many remote locations.
Hello. I am new to this forum and on a steep learning curve. This is my first hearing aid search. Good results from phonak IX trial, but price is very steep ($7,400 the pair). So I have been researching, and thank this forum for all the leads and interested people.
As far as my current comparisons go, it looks like the specs suggest that the latest model of Kirkland signatures are Siemens 701 Pure. It most closely matches the number of channels, RIC and look of the instrument in their adverts. The hearing technicians often are not too precise about information.
I will probably go for the Kirkland if I can confirm that they are the Pure 701, which their specs seem to match most closely. Any of the experts here have better information? I am ready to pounce when I have all the facts.
I also plan to get the programming equipment, but Siemens does not have the software on the internet any more. I hope they will send me a CD-ROM. Any info on this?
Many thanks for a good forum.
Aloha WCH & all interested,
I have been using a pair of the Costco Premium HA’s that were introduced the summer of 2010 since late July. Performance has been good, although one of them died a couple of weeks ago. Costco provided a loaner (demo) unit with my program in it until a new replacement arrived.
I had been using a set of Costco/Rexton Insite BTE before that but had some reliability problems with them in that they would sometimes change programs, or turn themselves off randomly. Costco took them back, put me in the new Premium HA’s and gave me some cash back as the new ones were cheaper than the old ones! Another case of technology getting cheaper as time goes on.
In scanning the web I came to the conclusion that the new Costco aids are very closely related to the Siemens Pure 701. I think that the Costco aids may not have the Sound Learning 2.0 function, but most of the other features seem to track, although the marketing words have been changed here and there. Looks like they have the Siemens “S” receiver, rated at 45 dB.
Plus points on the new aids compared to the Rexton Insite from my viewpoint are: much better feedback damping, smaller size, rechargeable batteries/charger.
Minus: in very low ambient noise situations (quiet room) I get some white noise (microphone noise) and am still working with the audi to reduce the gain to minimize it, but in doing so am not getting as much gain as I had before. Overall perception of the sound is pretty comparable and the white noise is usually not noticeable as normal there is enough background noises to cause the gain to be suppressed some anyway.
Keep us posted if you can find some software/adapting cables or whatever!
Chuck