It’s no secret that I’ve been infected with the HiFi bug since I was originally exposed to it in the 70s (the glory days of consumer audio as they’re known) in high school by my buddy Ken. Over the years, I’ve spent thousands of dollars in pursuit of that ideal sound and the irony has not been lost on me that as I’ve gotten older and my disposable income increased, allowing me the ability to chase after this ill-defined dream, my hearing has also been steadily diminishing on probably the same scale. I painfully discovered this in the early 2000s when I blew out a pair of tweeters in my system while trying to hear an 18kHz tone.
I’ve come to accept I can’t really hear pretty much anything over about 12kHz any more. Do I know I’m missing “something” that I used to hear? Yes. Maybe some of the “sparkle” that’s clearly lodged in my memory of these performances. Does that lessen my appreciation of music in any way? Not one bit.
That’s why this post on Reddit (copied below) resonated with me. I don’t know how many of you are as HiFi obsessed as I’ve been all my life or are just casual listeners, but I know that most—if not all—of my readers fall within in the same age range as myself and I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
A Small Theory About Audiophiles and Aging (Curious What You Think)
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I’m genuinely curious whether it resonates with anyone here.
We all know age-related high-frequency hearing loss (presbycusis) is normal. Most of us could hear close to 18–20 kHz as teenagers. Over time, that upper range gradually declines. It’s subtle, but measurable.
At the same time, the people who go deepest into the hobby (high-resolution libraries, serious DACs, carefully chosen amplifiers, room treatment, premium speakers) often aren’t 20-year-olds. They tend to be older.
Of course, disposable income plays a role, but not always. I know very wealthy people in their 20s and early 30s who could afford serious systems if they wanted to.
Here’s the thought:
As our hearing changes, music doesn’t sound exactly the way it did when we were younger. Not worse, necessarily. Just different. Maybe a little less sparkle. A bit less “air.” Slightly less immediacy in the top end.
So we start refining.
We upgrade the source. Then the DAC. Then the amp. Then the speakers. We experiment with positioning, isolation, cables, power. Each change brings subtle differences. Sometimes clearly audible, sometimes more subjective, but meaningful.
What if part of that drive isn’t just about objective fidelity?
What if it’s also about chasing a memory?
Not a specific frequency response curve, but the feeling of how music hit us when our hearing was at its peak. The internal reference we formed in our late teens or early twenties.
In that sense, the audiophile journey might be partly restorative. We’re not only optimizing equipment. We’re trying to align our present experience with an earlier sensory benchmark.
Interestingly, this might also explain why some listeners gravitate toward slightly warmer presentations over time. A smoother top end, richer harmonics, a more relaxed character. Not necessarily more accurate, but more satisfying.
I’m not saying this is the whole story. Gear differences are real. Room acoustics matter. Recordings matter. Taste evolves.
But I do wonder: does the intensity of the pursuit increase as our hearing subtly shifts?
Has anyone here actually tested their high-frequency hearing recently and noticed a correlation with the sound signature they prefer?
Curious to hear thoughts, especially from people who’ve been in the hobby 20+ years.
I’m 45, by the way. Keen bass player. I keep spending money upgrading my three hi-fi systems, and yet I’m still chasing what those first CDs made me feel when I played them on our family’s very average Sony CD player through cheap earphones.
It was 1994–95, and that remains one of my most powerful “audiophile” experiences.
Addendum:
The more I read the thoughtful replies you’re taking the time to write, the more I realize that what I’m describing probably goes beyond simple EQ or frequency response.
Maybe what I’m actually chasing isn’t “more treble,” but things like staging, separation, definition, presence — that sense of space and realism that makes music feel alive.
It’s also possible that when I was younger, it wasn’t just my ears that were different, but my brain. I was more attentive, more curious, more emotionally open to discovering what music could be. I remember being genuinely overwhelmed by those songs, even through what I now recognize was a very average system.
So perhaps part of the reference point I’m trying to get back isn’t purely acoustic. It might be cognitive and emotional as well.
I hope this clarifies what I meant in the original post.
Interesting ideas and questions about age and the loss of levels of hearing over a lifetime. I wish I could offer some outsider input into all this, but I cannot. The reason I have may sound too abstractly arbitrary. When I was in The Army, I lost some hearing in my right ear when throwing a live Grenade during Basic Training; only discovered over time. Since then I’ve relied on Headphones connected to those Sony/Technics/Panasonic Tape Decks and Receivers. For many years now I use ‘Earbuds’ connected to my Sony Discman. A question for you Mark, are the scenarios you put forth not that different (essentially), to the changes and/or loss of taste, of foods as one progresses into his latter years?
I miss a lot from my 20s: ears, eyes, body, interest in life.
It seems that I have always “had music in my bones”, first playing piano “by ear” from an early age. I ended up getting the piano lessons my mother wanted when she was younger, but they could not afford . . . in grade school. I was recruited for the high school band in 9th grade, to play the tuba.
In high school physics, I learned about sounds and their production. I found a copy of a Hi-Fi magazine and bought it. Inside was a “Reader Response Card” for advertisers. I circled many numbers and sent it back to them. Within weeks, I was getting a bunch of sales brochures on speakers, amps, tuners, and speakers. THAT was interesting reading! I learned a lot from them.. Bought another magazine and sent in more cards.
Then I discovered “Radio Electronics” magazine. A more hands-on/DIY builder publication. That is where I learned that what was pressed into the vinyl disc was actually an altered sound from the orig sounds. There was an article on this and a schematic for a “Compander” to release these compressions for a more natural and full sound.
There was also a full article on the first BOSE 901 speakers and what made them so great and better than anything else on the market. That resulted in BOSE becoming the icon it now is.
In about 1971, I found an ad for a stereo test record. Frequency checks, separation checks, etc. Interesting stuff.
I also learned about turntables and “grams of force” on the stylus. Plus the different styles of cartridges and such. “Dual” was one of the best brands at that tine.
I also learned about the reel-to-reel tape units. I liked “Roberts” the best. Then came CASETTES! The frequency response on them was about 100-8000hz, as I recall. Later improvements in heads and tape took that up to about 12Kh or higher. That’s when I realized that the bulk of music is under about 10KHz. Which made anything above that the “sparkle” I heard.
On the “car” front, from 1968-73, Chryslers (and similar Plymouth and Dodges) had a factory 5-speaker multiplex/stereo sound system. One speaker at each end of the top of the instrument panel and one in the center, plus to 6x9s in the rear deck. All speakers aimed upward so the curves in the glass deflected the sound to the passengers. The sound could be imaged against the windshield, sounding like you were 5 rows back from the state, with the rear speakers doing fill-in and such I was impressed at how good they sounded, but later models just had four speakers and still sounded great.
When Chrysler bought out the LH cars, their Alpine/Infinity radios again had three front speakers, with two in the back. SEPARATION was great.
Separation is something that many have forgotten about! As many grew up in the 1980s “boombox” era. Speakers 4″ apart cannot provide good stereo separation.
In about 1971, SONY came out with a “matrix stereo table radio”. Portable and AC/DC with a single whip antenna. Three speakers. Right, left, and composite center channel. With the electronics, it had good stereo separation you could hear. Looked upscale with its woodgrain grille and wood case. On records which had lots of separation, sitting about 10′ away from it, I could hear the separation very well.
On the many, new-fangled “STEREO!” records from the middle 1960s, it seems that the board ops tended to accentuate the stereo separation so the music sounded spectacular (and could motivate one to buy a new stereo unit). This evolved into the later 1960s sounds with the “Mamas and Poppas” era stereo separation. Which slid into the current situation where only classical music has any separation in it.
When I did my last two years of college in Lubbock, TX, myself and a few friends would go to the higher-end stereo shops to look around. Later continued back in Fort Worth after graduation. Remember Pacific Stereo? Watched the evolution of brands as new ones came online as higher-end brands of normal brands. Speakers, too. ARs and then Advents, for example. The J. B. Lansing “Voice of the Theatre” speakers were way too big for me, but I was always interested in them.
A few years ago, I found a YouTube channel by a used stereo dealer in Kansas or Iowa. He mentioned many of the brands I got info on back then. He really liked Wharfedale speakers for their warm and full sound. Not liking Klipsch for the intensity of their “horn tweeters”. Then I learned about the ARs and Advents’ different generations!
Never did buy anything, yet, but I have been looking. I get amused at the listings on FB MarketPlace, of (for example) D-level speakers made by Yorx (or similar) speakers that “sound great” LOL “Discount store” brand, at best. IF I buy anything, it will probably be from an area vintage stereo re-sale shop or antique mall vendor. Still looking. Maybe I’ll get something in the next year or so.