Suggested Home Theatre Setup for someone with hearing loss

[buzzingear]

Hey everyone.

I'm planning to upgrade my parents' television setup. The thing is, my dad has a hearing loss problem, so I wanted the setup to be good for him.
Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Dan_Cronstein]

Look at zvox soundbars

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

[mazersteven]

Headphones

 

[TLS Guy]

Hey everyone.

I'm planning to upgrade my parents' television setup. The thing is, my dad has a hearing loss problem, so I wanted the setup to be good for him.
Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!

This is difficult and we need more information. First of all does your father ware a hearing aid? Does he usually use it to watch TV? Can he easily understand speech with or without a hearing aid? Being able to look at his audiogram would be extremely helpful.

If his turnover frequency is below 2 KHz and certainly if at or below 1.5 KHz and he wears a hearing aid then he will be better with a system that has an inductive loop for his hearing aid, like churches and some cinemas.

Unfortunately many speakers, and especially center channel speakers, that carry the dialog have poor speech clarity and intelligibility. This is something I have been interested in for years, and know how to design speakers with good speech clarity and intelligibility. This is at last starting to get the attention of the industry. This issue is in my view the biggest issue to resolve in AV systems. Unfortunately most systems are sub optimal in this regard. So that makes your problem a tricky one.

 

[Hitchslapped]

This.

Headphones

Got headphones for my 95 year old grandmother a couple years back. She hears so much better and loves them.

 

[allfred]

Headphones would still be best, as already suggested previously. Bluetooth technology and other features are great but extra features. Maybe look into this interview for technology that can help your dad? For home theater systems, might be best to look for products that especially come with hearing aid technology and then consider the components that it comes with.

 

[BMXTRIX]

HEADPHONES!!!!

Absolutely one of the top recommendations I have, and with very good response from those who have used them, is getting wireless headphones.

A crowd favorite is the Sennheiser RS120 series. They aren't audiophile grade, they are just good at doing their job for a very good price. There are certainly better options out there, and you may want a set with a digital audio input, but that'll run you a bit more cash.

At the end of the day, a soundbar is better than internal speakers, as separate speakers/receiver are better than most soundbars. But, when people are hard of hearing, one of the best things you can give them is headphones. They can individually adjust their volume and it works for movies, music, and just watching TV. This is especially helpful at midnight when others may be trying to sleep in the home.

I have at least half a dozen clients who have added headphones to their viewing habit.