Time for new hearing aids?

I have the Nuear RIC intro hearing aids and have had them for a year and a half. I woiuld like to know if hearing aids , since I bought these, have improved enough that it would benefit buying a new pair? I have trouble understanding people lately.
Gail

Not many people here are familiar with the NuEar aids made by Starkey. NuEar Intro Main are 4 channel 4 band aids equivalent to Starkey E Series 3. These are now considered economy aids.

I am currently looking for new aids myself. According to the advice I received here, the NuEar Imagine VS (Starkey S Series iQ) series or, if you can afford it, the NuEar LOOK (Starkey Wi) series would be much better due to enhancements hearing in noisy situations and speech technology.

It is also possible that your hearing has changed in the past year and a half.

I hope this is some help. I thought listing equivalents would allow others to help too.

Gail,

Why are you considering replacing your only 1 1/2 year old NuEar hearing aids? Seems almost too soon unless things are not going well.

I can’t hear soft spoken people, well I hear them I just can’t understand the words. I did expect them to last longer than a year and a half. Maybe they weren’t that good to begin with.
The audiologist wants to sell me a pair of Oticon Agil Pro Mine Rite for 7,577.00. Does that sound about right? The last ones were from a hearing aid dispenser so I thought I might need to try an audiologist.
I asked for a copy of hearing test to post and haven’t recieved them yet.

Thanks for the reply’s

I know the feeling. I have problems with soft spoken, high pitched voices (my wife :(). From what I understand, some people love the sound from a particular manufacturer, while others cannot stand the sound. Whatever you decide to try, if they do not suit, try something else.

Personally, I could not stand the sound of Phonak aids. I am getting ready to try some Starkey ones. The more expensive aids tend to have better technology for understanding speech.

A year and a half is pretty short. Did you have another hearing test? perhaps your hearing has changed.

I wish you well in your hearing search.

I’m sure your audiologist would LOVE to sell you hearing aids for that much! But that is pretty out there. There are some amazing hearing aids on the market for $1000-$2000 less, that are top of the line.

It sounds to me like you made the mistake of buying aids that just were very basic last time around. Now they probably could be adjusted to do better, but for sure, if you start spending over $5,000 with technology that is around today, you’d probably do way better.

Sadly some hearing professionals think they are doing their patients a favor by recommending cheaper products. But often times the old saying is true, buy cheap, buy twice.

ZCT, I’m looking at a pair of Audibel Range Platinum for around $6900. Since I know you work with Starkeys, I’m wondering if that is in the right price range for these?

Just read the fine print on their return policy before you order:D

As ZCT quoted, but cheap buy twice.

The HearSource aids are probably not much better than your existing aids. It appears that you & I both have issues with speech and need some of the more advanced features.

The HearSource aids may be fine for some people who do not need advanced speech features.

Gail,

I just looked and those seem to be their top of the line aids. i can get Starkey Wi Series i110 from my dispenser for $2400 each. That includes free audiogram & bi-annual checkups for the life of the aids.

I agree with others that the price seems a little steep. A prior audiologist quoted me $6990 for a pair of Phonak Ambra aids.

This is all assuming your price is in US Dollars.

Gail,

I would go back to your original dispenser and ask them to try to readjust them for you again. If you get no satisfaction from that dispenser, then I would call the manufacturer and ask to be referred to another hearing professional in your area that may be better at programming your specific brand of hearing aid.

And for what it is worth, I am a quite satisfied HearSource hearing aid wearer. I really appreciate the personal programming aspect of their system.

I’m making an assumption that this is top of the line Wi hearing aids here (since Audibel recently changed some of their names around). On that basis I’d say you could do a little better.

I mean they are not ripping you off at that price, but they (or you) can do better. I’ve seen that line of aids range from low to high $6K, heck I’ve seen it over $7K.

Hearing aid companies like any other business will negotiate. Heck I negotiated my wife’s Chiropractor the other day, nothing is set in stone.

That’s a pretty awesome price, I’ve not seen it that low. I better call Starkey HQ and have them go bust those low price bandits :wink:

Actually, it’s a Starkey partnership. Check out http://www.clearvaluehearing.com I just become a Farm Bureau Associate member for $40 per year. The list I saw had all the Starkey brands.

Regarding your other comment, it appears that the Audibel Range platinum is the Wii Series i110.

Look here http://www.clearvaluehearing.com/Provider.aspx Maybe you need to sign up with them.
:smiley:

Have you gone back for adjustments? With a 1.5 year old aid you might just need some adjustments, unless there are other features that your current aids don’t have. Maybe your hearing has changed a little or maybe they were never tuned exactly right in the first place.

It’s worth a try before you drop some cash.

Gail, I agree with Don, you should go back and see if an adjustment will help.

Gail, I agree with the others … before you buy new hearing aids, I’d see if the ones you have can’t be adjusted - or turned up a bit. That said, I can relate to what you’re saying about having difficulty understanding what people are saying. Like you, I’ve noticed that too, though my speech discrimination scores haven’t deteriorated a lot. My Widex Diva CIC’s are 7 years old, so I decided it was time to get new ones.

I’ve ordered the Agil Pro and am hoping that it’s my hearing aids that are aging and not my hearing. :slight_smile: My audiologist recommended 3 hearing aids (Acto Pro, Agil Pro and the Starkey Series 7) and I went with the Agil Pro because they seemed geared toward better speech comprehension, which is my main priority. They were a little pricier than the Acto Pro, which he said is a close 2nd and has many patients who are very happy with them). I opted to pay a little more in hopes it will give me better results. It’s financially painful (I did plan for the purchase and allocated $ for this in a Flexislble Spending Account), but I work and feel it’s important to hear as well as possible.

Good luck to you in either getting your existing aids adjusted or getting new hearing aids that work better for you.

Thanks for all the reply’s. I just don’t think the guy that is doing my hearing aids is very good. He is the owner’s son. I have probably been back to have these adjusted 30 or 40 times in the last year and a half. Many times it is worse after he adjusts them. Since he is the owners son I don’t think it would do any good to complain. Can you get someone to program them that you didn’t buy them from?

From what I understand, these aids are locked so they can only be programmed my NuEar dealers. The web site at http://www.nuear.com/locations/ may help you find any dealer close by. If you cannot find a dealer, it might be worth calling Starkey since they own NuEar. Their number is (800) 328-8602. I know they helped me find a Micro Tech dealer. I would expect another dealer could help you.

Without knowing your audiogram, it is difficult to say whether your current aids could be adjusted for your loss. Did you get your copy if your audiogram yet?