I would like us to make some kind of statistics on how often the receiver is changed when it stops working or the sound has become too weak due to a malfunction of the receiver or a broken wire.
So the question is: How often do you change the RECEIVER? What brand of hearing aid do you have and what model? How much did you pay for the new receiver? (regardless of where you bought it, from an audiologist or ebay, etc., state where you bought it. And how long did your receiver last since you bought it?
I would like to make some kind of statistics on how often the receiver breaks down, I noticed that the receiver is too expensive.
Let me answer the above questions
I replaced the receiver twice on both hearing aids. One lasted 7 months and the other 10 months. The cause may be my carelessness because at first I sometimes carelessly pulled the hearing aids out of my ear. I once put the hearing aid in the charger by mistake in the dark and closed the charger door over a wire.
I have a Unitron BLU - the receiver is the same one used by the Phonak Audeo paradise.
I order the receiver through ebay, it comes from Great Britain to my country, and I paid a total of 53 dollars for one because the price includes postage and tax for import into my country. Great Britain has left the European Union, so we have to pay additional taxes. . In my country, a receiver is expensive for a third of the price.
If I’m not mistaken, I think Signia AX has the best receiver, because they have a thicker wire on one part. I noticed that in the review. But to really see who has better quality receivers, I think we should look at the failure statistics.
@markoo355 : I believe that this is one of the least important criteria when assessing the quality of a receiver. I suggest that you do some Googling and learn how they operate and how they’re made.
I lost an Activevent reveiver after only a couple months. I think it was broken from the get-go due to some noises it made on several occasions, which I thought were my fault, of course.
In 16 years of wearing hearing aids, I have never had a receiver fail. (And, if for some reason, I disconnect them from the body of the HA, I put them in my jewelry box, so they don’t get lost: especially something as pricey as an ActiveVent!)
I have been wearing aids about 18 years, I have had one set of aids that were MiniRite back in 2010 that hated moisture, and died on me twice. And now the OPNS and More1 aids are MiniRite with no hardware issues. But I still feel less comfortable with the aids hanging behind my ears, and long to have my ITE aids back. I know it is just my mindset. And the only time I notice them is when I take my glasses off or have to wear a damn mask.
I currently own Oticon OPN 1 aids with Power Mold receivers. Moisture due to the excessive earwax causes my receivers to last only a year. I have stored away 7 dead receivers, their resin shells and several wires in my drawer. This is the sixth year of my ownership of OPN and when the current set of receivers fail, I am going to buy BTE Starkey evolv AI or Phonak Paradise.
With my oticon alta pro I had to replace a receiver about once a year (2014-2019). Due to poor sound quality (clanking, rattling, etc.).
My Audi charged between 110 and 150 US$ per receiver.
Later I bought them on the internet for about 60 US$ per receiver.
And always kept a pair on reserve.
With my Phonak Paradise I had until now (1 1/2 years in use) one incident within the first two weeks: I also had the cable jammed in the charger. My audi charged 98 US for it.
I immediately ordered a pair of spares on the internet (26 US$ per receiver).
Still not needed since…
@hearing-love_loss: I also believe that the kind of bacteria that reside in your “ear canal biome” can affect receiver life. Wax or no wax, some people (like my late father) can produce a kind of “ear cheese” that have an acid or enzyme or something that eats electronics.
@cvkemp: I dunno, Chuck. Those receivers are still sucking in air and blowing it back out again - that’s how they produce sound, after all - along with millions of “ear cheese biotics” that could make my father’s HAs smell like dirty socks!
I’m sure those little critters could produce enzymes that would rot stainless steel.
I’m probably going to curse myself, but in 7+ years of wearing hearing aids with RIC, I can’t actually recall any time that I had to replace a receiver (although it wouldn’t surprise me if maybe once I had to and just don’t remember).
It wasn’t an issue for the 30 years before that when I used BTEs with rubber ear molds. But those molds were such a pain because they hardened after 3-6 months, which caused them to fall out, or create blisters, or degrade the sound quality. So all things being equal, I’m much happier with RICs.
In my 10-ish years using RIC HAs from Costco, I’ve had one receiver fail – it was about a year old and was replaced free-of-charge – and I’ve never had an issue with the wire. Costco encourages you to have the receivers replaced before the 3-year warranty expires so I’ve done that.
Currently I use the Jabra Enhance (rebranded Resound One). Previously, KS10s (Phonak Paradise) and KS6s (by Resound) before that.
I have degraded Marvel 4.0 S- and P-receivers and new P-receivers.
I found that I was understanding people less and less. After replacing* the receivers on my Phonak M90’s, I found that understanding became a lot better.**
So I didn’t have an all-out fail, yet. However, there is sound degradation in the Phonak 4.0 receivers. Replacing two receivers costs 60€ and is refunded by my insurance.*** There’s not even a minimal time span for acquiring them. So I probably try to remember to replace them once a year.
*One of the plastic coverings of the wires became cracked, leaving the wires unprotected. It is still working, though.
**I fit the aids with an AudiogramDirect, so the amplification of the receivers is not the issue. The clarity of the produced sound is, though.
***As are domes and batteries.
I can’t agree with you, Chuck.
My VA provided ear molds also have embedded receivers, however the right side failed on my More 1 after 7 months.
By failed I mean DEAD!
They had to send them back to Oticon for replacement due to the imbedded receivers.
Lucky I had my OPN S1’s with the same ear molds, so I replaced it myself.