Hi @jfranek43,
Another Ausssie here - lots of us too - Like a Saturday barby with free snags
It is not clear to me if the Audiogram in your profile is yours or your wife’s. I note you have been looking since September last year - possibly for the both of you.
You can’t go wrong with @tenkan’s advice. In essence almost any modern hearing aid will help significantly - whether Phonak, Oticon, widex etc etc. Personally I am in my first week of a Kirkland KS10 from costco - VERY similar to the phonek p90rt. However it is several thousand <!> dollars cheaper.
A sticking point is
Certainly you can get in the canal versions of almost all the current models and if her loss is not too bad she may be suitable. However she will potentially sacrifice some of the wizz bang features that the RIC and BTE models tend to offer. It is a trade off. Do some research and see what is on offer and what might be missing. Looking at the posted Audiogram, I suspect that the RIGHT ear -at least- may be too severe for a CIC type. However others here should be able to give you a more definitive answer.
As far as spec savers go - I have nothing against them but after looking around I went to Costco. My understanding/research (at least locally) is that at Specsavers you get a video consultation with an audiologist of limited duration - the rest is done by one of the shop assistants - No idea what training if any they have. If they are the equivalent of their spectacle ‘fitters’ I wouldn’t be too happy . Others here will confirm that as long as your ‘fitter’ is well trained -, it doesn’t matter if they are a qualified audiologist and going by the anecdotes here I am certainly happy to accept that - just not sure where specs savers fitters fit in!
Costco - (and there are several in Melbourne IIRC) in Australia have certified Audiologists; are distinctly cheaper; do REM and have a good selection of HAs. Like all ‘shops’ you may strike a dud Audi/fitter or a good one - try and see. You have 180 days to return the HAs for 100% refund no questions asked and a 3 year warranty including all consumable (except batteries if you get a non rechargeable).
If you have specific questions ask away - this is the place. I have learned a MASSIVE amount here.
Cheers
Edit: I would also add that in the end you are going to have to test particular HAs to decide what works best for you/your wife. There appear to be so much individual/subjective variability in what is ‘best’ that you can’t really predict. As such - to answer your question - as far as I can see/here/read - there is no “clear winner” in the speech understanding category. Others here can probably give you a better explanation/more detail.
This is CLASSIC. It is not just volume that is the problem - it is comprehensibility.