Costco Kirkland Signature 5.0

@RonLF said:

Thanks very much OkieBob,
My hearing loss, at 67, is probably about average. Is has been suggested that molds are preferable to persons with moderate to severe loss. Is this accurate? I just don’t know. My Costco tech so much as told me that I was not a good candidate for molds and to find a good receiver tube/dome fit. The Bernafon Juna has that simple curve in the tube that makes the dome stay in place. The closest Costco is 200 miles away in Albuquerque. I’m headed down there from SW Colorado on Friday with fingers crossed. Thanks again for the info.

Don’t mean to doubt your Costco tech but, at the price and your distance to the nearest Costo, I’d pay the $80, have the impressions make and have them mail the molds to you so you don’t have to make another trip to the store. I’d also ask her why she doesn’t think you are a good candidate? I’m pretty sure, in the past, molds were the only way you could go. Just curious.

— Updated —

@RonLF said:

Thanks very much OkieBob,
My hearing loss, at 67, is probably about average. Is has been suggested that molds are preferable to persons with moderate to severe loss. Is this accurate? I just don’t know. My Costco tech so much as told me that I was not a good candidate for molds and to find a good receiver tube/dome fit. The Bernafon Juna has that simple curve in the tube that makes the dome stay in place. The closest Costco is 200 miles away in Albuquerque. I’m headed down there from SW Colorado on Friday with fingers crossed. Thanks again for the info.

Don’t mean to doubt your Costco tech but, at the price and your distance to the nearest Costo, I’d pay the $80, have the impressions make and have them mail the molds to you so you don’t have to make another trip to the store. I’d also ask her why she doesn’t think you are a good candidate? I’m pretty sure, in the past, molds were the only way you could go. Just curious.

Just got my first HA, the Costco KS5s. So far so good. Some of the input seems a little tinny but not bad overall. The remote sold me. Watching TV I can mute the HAs and notice how things used to be, then turn them on and hear the high freqs again. It was very noticeable during a sporting match: off - no crowd noise, only the players heard, on - the crowd suddenly was put into the spectrum.

Costco doesn’t seem to have any “Buy Online” listings or info about the Streamer (is it a Model 2?) or the Phone Clip. No idea what they cost. Are these the only devices that pair to the KS5?

I only got three programs installed (Automatic, Noise and TV/Music) but I see that four are possible. Are the three I have the most common ones and what would be a good fourth choice to plug in?

Everybody seems to know their personal hearing scores. Is it usual for the tester to provide them to the customer? I got none.

These are things I’d like to know about for my re-check in two weeks. Thanks for any help. I think I made a good choice.

OkieBob,
You know, I may have bad information about what purpose the molds serve. The tech implied that the molds would provide a perfect fit for a hearing device to insert into my canal. No ear piece, no tubes etc. A completely different form of hearing aid that he suggested was designed for extreme hearing loss. Is this right? I’m ignorant!

In other words, would the mold provide a profile of my ear to make a custom fit for the receiver tube? Again, ignorant!

Ok, 400 more miles (round trip) and I’m wearing the Bernafon Juna 9s and, so far, I like them. The curved receiver tube I’ve been referring to provides a very nice, tight fit into my canal. Whereas the new Kirkland 3S5s kept coming out, these stay in place. Just walking around Costco (a trip in itself) and in the car driving home, the sound “seemed” more natural, not as tinny. I’m so new at this, it’s hard to say with any accuracy but - day one, so far so good. Will be trying restaurant and music venues soon. Stay tuned.

@OkieBob said:

Don’t mean to doubt your Costco tech but, at the price and your distance to the nearest Costo, I’d pay the $80, have the impressions make and have them mail the molds to you so you don’t have to make another trip to the store. I’d also ask her why she doesn’t think you are a good candidate? I’m pretty sure, in the past, molds were the only way you could go. Just curious.

Only drawback there is if the molds aren’t a perfect fit out of the box. In my experiences with molds over 8 years is they rarely fit correctly first time. They generally require a bit of grinding and occasionally have to be re-made from scratch.

I don’t know why I have molds. My audi started me on them and didn’t offer an alternative. Next time, which will be KS5s, I’ll try domes.

Incidentally KS5s are the same price in Australia as they are in the US. That’s highly unusual as generally we get ripped off on US imports.

@Walter_Plinge said:

Only drawback there is if the molds aren’t a perfect fit out of the box. In my experiences with molds over 8 years is they rarely fit correctly first time. They generally require a bit of grinding and occasionally have to be re-made from scratch.

I don’t know why I have molds. My audi started me on them and didn’t offer an alternative. Next time, which will be KS5s, I’ll try domes.

Incidentally KS5s are the same price in Australia as they are in the US. That’s highly unusual as generally we get ripped off on US imports.

I had one audi that I “interviewed” tell me that molds were the “gold standard”, the one I ended up with fitted me with open domes & they work GREAT.

I think the gold standard was to put more gold in the audi’s pocket with an extra charge.

Sorry to go off-topic here, but could you (or anyone else reading this) tell me what type of batteries the Kirkland 5s take. By that, I mean the number. MY old aids take number 13, but from all I see so far, the 5’s take an even smaller battery. Is this correct?

Does any Costco or Kirkland Rep know when to expect the release of Kirkland Signature 6.0 premium hearing aids?

@Danuta said:

They use 312 Batteries and you can get 45 of them for $9.99 in costco, they last a week or more for me. I am in 9 month of wearing KS5 and could not be happier. No comparison to my bernafons. I am very happy with KS5

You can also get batteries at Sams Club = pkg of 40 = $8.98

In response to post #1 " Is this the new model based on the Resound Verso 9"

According to the Costco Aud I saw yesterday, the answer to that is “yes”, they are nearly exactly like the RESOUND Versa 9

You might not see a KS6 for a while since the KS5 has not been out that long and is having good success. However, a bluetooth Resound LiNX could likely be next up. How about a KS5B? I’m waiting for some updated information before commiting to the KS5.

My sig5 is approaching one year old…my first HA, and I love them. The hand control is also a great feature… don’t get HA without someway to change mic patterns and volume from a hand remote, better maybe form an smart phone if you use one… I don’t, still just a some times used cell phone.

I am looking at getting the costco KS5’s but I have a question I cant seem to find an answer to. Do they offer financing for the hearing aids ?

Costco doesn’t offer financing, but if you sign up for their American Express card, you get 6 months to pay off the balance interest-free.