I was in my local store today ordering a set of the Philips aids, and saw them in the case. didn't really learn anything about them, only just asked if they might be a better fit for me than the Philips.....
What was the response, when you asked about the Soundgear? What did the Costco associate say about whether the Soundgear might be better?
And, did you order the Philips?
Different people like different hearing aids. Some prefer Philips, some Jabra, some Sennheiser, some Rexton, and some Soundgear. I ordered the Rexton Reach aids, which were the best for me of the 4 I tested. However, a few months after receiving them, the Soundgear HAs became available. I tested them in the store and preferred them. (They are made by Starkey, the company that made my previous hearing aids.) I returned the Rexton Reach aids and purchased the Soundgear,
There is no guarantee that you will like the Soundgear HAs, let alone like them better than the Philips. You can certainly ask to try them out, whether you have already purchased the Philips or not. Also, make sure that you understand the pros and cons of the Soundgear if you decide to test that brand.
Curious what you think about these aids. Our local Costco fitters said they are not familiar with them so sales have not been good. That experience can be a short coming with fitters.
Just some bit about that they're made by Starkey (or sister too, something like that). thinks of them as good for someone that needs custom hearing aids. I didn't understand what was meant by that, didn't press it.
Basically I was only interested in one question... that being to confirm if based on my and situation in the Sennheiser trial, which of their offerings is the best fit for me....
and yes, I ordered Philips. I really want to try the newest Oticon, but it would be stupid I think for the price delta, to not see if the Philips will be good enough. I had a little in-store demo before paying. Hard for me to really discern much of anything by walking around in the noisy store with aids that are not fully set up and fitted to me. My big takeaway was that there was nothing significantly negative...nothing that was teeth rattling or jarring about the experience. The other thing was in that environment feedback was significantly less than with the Sennhesiers in my current set-up anyway. Also made a brief step into the booth with the door open just to test feedback by cupping my hands near and over the aids. Just barely a chirp. So worth a shot to see if my research and hopes about them might be on-point! We'll be able to really compare them in a few days....
Basically I was only interested in one question... that being to confirm if based on my audiogram and situation in the Sennheiser trial, which of their offerings is the best fit for me....
The answer is up to you. Give both a try and see what you think. Both are good aids. Pending on the fitter either could be the best aides you have worn.
I think SoundGear Amps are selling okay in St. Louis, MO. It's early days still, I guess, but when I asked the at the St. Peters Costco for an opinion a couple of months ago, she said that their store's customers who purchased SoundGears seemed very satisfied, and so far no one had called asking to return them.
Also, I get what you mean about testing the in store. I ended up going to the ONE television that was plugged in and was able to listen to some speech and music on that set. I also talked to some random employees, just to see what I thought about the sound of their voices. (BTW, when testing the SoundGear a second time, I had my cell phone and the SoundGear app downloaded - yes, lots of customization on this HA, but much of it is via an app, so a user would need their phone handy to make certain changes - I discovered that I really liked the Edge Mode feature in an echo-y warehouse environment like Costco. I had to ask the to show me how to turn Edge Mode on so I could test it.)
If I were testing HAs at Costco again, I think I would download some decent-fidelity spoken word files on my phone, so I could play them back in-store as I tested each HA.