Yesterday I visited the Hearing Center at one of our local Costco stores to discuss possible replacement for my 4-year old Siemens ITC HAs. The Dispenser highly recommended the Kirkland Signature Premium 4.0 RIC HAs, that had just come out recently. I would appreciate any opinions about those, or even the previous generation (3.0?).
I tried the previous version and got great sound. I really liked them. I was trying to stay with an open fit and we just couldn’t get all the feedback out so I went with the Resounds. But, I understand the feedback manager is much better now.
I was ready to go with a custom mold with the Kirklands and my audiologist said that she thought she could keep me in an open fit with the Resounds, so that’s why I changed.
I think the Kirklands (a Rexton Cobalt 16+) match up with one of the Siemens Pure 701 models but I’m not sure now that it has a t-coil. Would that be the Pure Carat?
They have two choices on the bluetooth phone device, the larger BluRCU and the smaller mini-Blu.
That’s really a pretty special deal, two very nice hearing aids with t-coils, a charger and rechargeable batteries, and a free remote for $2,000. They have stepped up their game a little.
are we sure the Kirkland/Rexton has a T-Coil with my Rexton and Siemens Pure Carets the t-coil is in the Tek & miniTek.
No, I’m not at all sure but it appears they are trying to say the t-coil for these is in the aid.
From the site: “Telecoil
The built-in Telecoil allows for ease of use with hearing aid compatible phone and loop systems.”
The way it’s worded implies the telecoil is to be used for HAC phones. The telecoil in the TEK or BluRCU is for looped rooms and not for phones, right?
http://shop.costco.com/en/In-The-Warehouse/Hearing-Aid-Center/Kirkland-Signature.aspx
This is saying the Pure Carat has a telecoil for phone use. Shawnae is an excellent hearing aid salesperson. See page 3, Pure Carat New.
https://www.medical.siemens.com/siemens/en_GLOBAL/rg_marcom_FBAs/files/au_shi/may2011_launch/PureConsumerBrochure.pdf
If it’s true, it’s a good idea and I wish mine had a telecoil.
thank you sir… I stand corrected.
4.0 is a somewhat updated version of the 3.0 (Rexton Cobalt 16+). It now uses a bigger battery and has a better nano coating. Also the remote is now included in the price and the beep tones are now polyphonic. That is my understanding of the changes anyway. It seems like a very good deal.
Andy
FTF:
I got my first HA’s almost 2 weeks ago and they are the Kirkland Signature 4.0. Not having any previous experience I cannot compare them with other HA’s. The performance of the KS’s is excellent. I was having great difficulty in WebEx meetings understanding Austrian/German engineers speaking English and my brain would just tone them out after about 15 minutes.
The KS’s data log and have 5 program slots available. The 1st one is Automatic; as the name implies the software listens to your hearing environment and adjusts automatically. As I was walking out of the store after being fitted I noticed the sound of the wind whistling in the HA, within 500ms the HA automatically adjusted and the wind noise was gone. My 2nd one is Speech in Noise which works great in an office environment and most public settings. I did stop by a very noisy pub one evening at happy hour and had to change to Program 4 which is Noise & Traffic. This program setting worked very well and allowed me to hear the waitress go over the specials menu. The 3rd one is called Focus 360º which helps with hearing clearer all around not just the sides or front. The 4th one is as stated previously is Noise & Traffic. The 5th one initially was Music & TV I didn’t use it much as the Automatic worked great. At the end of the first week I went back for the first adjustment and had the program changed to one called Outdoors. I also had the volume range expanded so I could turn it up to hear all the sounds I’ve been missing when hiking on trails.
I really like the remote. I can change the programs by pressing a button. The left ear has polyphonic sounds and the right ear has beeps. Also the slide switch on top can be used for program changes and volume. The switch on the left changes the program on both ears and the switch on the right changes the volume on both ears. The OFF switch on the remote is useful as well. I take a train to another office a couple time a week and the noise from the wheels in the tunnels is over 95dB so I just turned the HA’s off. The dryer/battery charger is a great feature. Even with the nano coating I’m sure the humidity level increases in the electronics section and receiver. The dryer should reduce the humidity and as a result should increase the lifetime of the HA’s.
I believe the Costco HA’s are an excellent value. In my job I move every 2-3 years so Costco makes sense for me as I can go into any Costco hearing aid center for warranty, adjustments and free replacement domes and receivers for 3 years. The HA’s they sell are the premium and top of the line and like others have said the KS’s are the same as the Rexton 16+ & Siemens Pure 701. The programming software and the serial numbers of the HA’s are Rexton as well. The tech at Costco told me the main differences were the software and programming changes from the 3.0 version as well as the improved nano coating, battery size increase to a 13 and tele-coil. I haven’t started using the rechargeable batteries yet as I’m still using the same batteries installed when dispensed on 3/13.
There is another member on this forum with the username of DL. His name is Delmar and he is the manager of Costco hearing center in Oregon. I sent him a private message and he responded very quickly to my questions. I live in the San Francisco East Bay Area and the Costco tech at the Hayward location is Demetrius. He is a great fitter and very patient. My wife has a 95dB + loss at all frequencies above 4kHZ and a 35dB to 60dB loss below 4kHZ. She has tried several HA’s over the past 20 years and hasn’t been satisfied. Her audiologist recommended the GN Resound Alera at $6500. I suggested she go to Costco and they fitted her with the GN Resound Futures which are essentially the same as the Alera for less than $3000. She is very happy and she can hear again. We were leaving the fitness center on a Saturday morning and she asked, “Is that a bird singing?”, I nodded to her and she responded I haven’t heard that sound since I was a teenager.
If the KS’s work for you I don’t think you can get a better price point and you get 90 days to try them out.
I will have the Costco Premiun 4.0 HAs this week. In trying to find out which HAs in the Rexton or Siemens Caret line these aids are comparable to, I have been looking online. In the Siemems Caret desciption I see nothing about a Telecoil. I also have read the Tek manual and see no mention of the T-coil (I will be receiving the “Tek” with my Costco HAs). I did another post here to find out how these features work with the T-coil.
Page 2, second column:
Pure Carat features AutoPhone® and Telecoil for even easier phone calls.
https://www.medical.siemens.com/siemens/en_GLOBAL/rg_marcom_FBAs/files/au_shi/may2011_launch/PureConsumerBrochure.pdf
I’ve had my KS 4.0 aids for 2 weeks now, and they are far superior to the older Rexton BTEs that I had. The sound is good, and control with the remote is very convenient. The small molds do not have wax guards, so I’m having to watch that and keep them clean; will be discussing that with the tech at Costco. The charger/dryer works well with the rechargeable 13 batteries – another nice feature.
I haven’t had a chance to try the t-coil feature yet, but plan to use it – with my desk phone, but also giving thought to purchasing an Artone Bluetooth Neckloop to use with my cell phone instead of one of the Costco options for that. Has anyone any experience with that combination?
Gene
I’m going in soon to get some KS 4.0s. Does the Blu RCU or Mini Blu RCU come with a dongle of some sort to add bluetooth transmitting to a home entertainment system? I want to be able to shoot TV / Xbox sound to my hearing aids via bluetooth while allowing my wife to listen at whatever volume she wants. Anyone doing this? Thanks!
I think it comes with a tv transmitter, a separate device, but check with your pro. The tv transmitter probably has better quality sound.
If you mean it’s something other than bluetooth, that’s cool. Insert “invisible wireless magic” for “bluetooth.” 
I’ll ask for sure when I go in, but if anyone has the scoop regarding how it plugs in to a home entertainment system, or photos, I’m pretty curious.
I have an appointment at the local Costco for next Wednesday. They say they can use the hearing test I got on 4/24 from Kaiser, so I won’t have to do a hearing test at Costco. Assuming they find that the Kirkland Signature Premium 4.0 will work for me, I will order then. Wish it didn’t take two weeks after order to get them!
since a hearing test only takes a few minutes I would let Costco do one… that way if there are any problem with getting the right aids they won’t blame it on you bringing your test.
The test I had at Kaiser took a LOT longer than a few minutes.
I’m surprised that it takes two weeks to get them in. Mine were custom in the ear aids, and they were in 6 days later. I had a valid audiogram, but went ahead and let the fitter test me again, and we compared results.They were almost identical.
just cause it took longer does it mean it’s better?
I’m surprised they would sell you a product based on someone else’s test. But, it is what it is. good luck.
Hi everyone,
I am new here, and I am old (70) in November and confused. How’s that for a starter? LOL
I am going to order the K S Premium 4.0 aids in the near future. I am confused about what I should get for listening to the TV? I am now using the wireless headphones, they are OK, but everytime I put them on, my wife asks me a question. I then have to remove them to hear what she is saying and its getting to be a real pain!
I am not a techy, so please be a little patient with me. (Thanks) Will this so called t-coil feature allow me to use the neckloop?
I would sooooo much appreciate your input and suggestions for me for a device to help me listen to the TV.
Regards,
farfel
if I were getting the Kirklands I would get either the Blu RCU or Mini Blu RCU. either one comes with one TVLink about the size of a book of matches and plugs into an audio out on your TV. The short difference is the RCU has direct access to programs via larger buttons and a display window. It will link with one TVLink and one BT phone. To listen to your PC, MP3, etc you need to cable it to the RCU. The mini has one program button that will rotate you through the programs and no display. It will sync with two TVLinks and two BT phones. It will also wirelessly sync with BT enabled PC’s, MP’s, etc. or they can be cabled it not BT enabled. There is a good description on the Costco site.
they have a t-coil but no neckloop.