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Costco Kirkland Signature 6.0

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I apologize-I know nothing. I’m going to Costco this Sat. First hearing aid. I’m thinking this new aide looks great!
would someone explain the battery differences.
thanks

In reply to @Riverott

@Riverott said:

I apologize-I know nothing. I’m going to Costco this Sat. First hearing aid. I’m thinking this new aide looks great!
would someone explain the battery differences.
thanks

Not sure how accurate this chart is (has to be true, I found it on the Internet:cool: )but should show the differences:

Battery Size: Milliamp Hours:
675 600 mah
13 260 mah
312 130 mha
10A 70 mah
5A 35 mah

In reply to @louyo

You can see that the 13 carries twice the wallop. Resound’s claim for the new processor package was a 30% reduction in power requirements. That’d make one think that the 312 was adequate and could give close to the 13 service pitted against older technology. If it stops there all is good.

Streaming introduces a load that adds a drain. If you are listening to a sermon on Sunday morning, all will be good. Well, the battery is taking an extra hit and might draw double the current over normal use. But batteries aren’t that costly; so, what the hey.

Now you switch channels and Top Gun is just starting. Remember the roar of that flight deck on the carrier? Best Buy used it to demo sub woofers and loud speakers. Well, that will stress those 312 to the point they can even not have enough oxygen left to provide current. So, the system is electrically starved to the point of momentary failure.

Not only does the 13 store more but also easily allows greater short term drain.

(P = I * V or Watts = Amp X Voltage and Amp and Volts describe a battery.)

Resound felt that a small size was cosmetically more desirable than adequate power supply. I thought Costco had recognized it and gone with the slightly larger and more reliable unit. Resound is now pushing the large units in the II with their resellers to eliminate the streamer complaints.

If you don’t need/want the streamer, you aren’t going to see a problem.

Edited

What you’re saying here is that the Resound model behind the KS6 is completely under-engineered from a power perspective- that not only does the 312 not give adequate battery life, the 312 cannot even support momentary current demand under normal operating conditions, (i.e. streaming Top Gun) I don’t believe that. If I can stream enough audio to starve my batteries of oxygen and shut down the circuit I have a device that is woefully underdesigned. Who does that?

Besides, if Top Gun could shut down the 312, it could probably shut down the 13 as well. Here are the specs from Ray o Vac:

312: High Rate Pulse: 60 hours – 2 mA background 10 mA100 mS pulse at 70°F (21°C) and 50% RHonce/hour 16 hours/day to 1.05 volts.
13: High Rate Pulse: 75 hours – 3 mA background 12 mA100 mS pulse at 70°F (21°C) and 50% RHonce/hour 16 hours/day to 1.05 volts.

Yes- streaming will draw more current, but the program content of the stream, be it the Sunday Sermon or Top Gun or anything else, won’t add any more to that current draw. It’s , right? The current draw for the stream is what it is whether it’s quiet or Top Gun.

Now, the kind of audio passing through the may change the current draw in theory, but Ive never noticed a difference in battery life based on what I’m listening to. If it shuts down it’s because the compressor got overloaded.

Should the KS6s have used a 13 battery? Probably. But for battery life, not for instantaneous current draw.

The person at local Costco (Huntsville, AL) told me yesterday that the KS6 should be available in about a week, and that it is equivalent to a model between Linx 7 and Linx 9. He thinks that the KS6 would have 15 channels instead of 17 like the Linx 9 and that the number of gain handles would be 8 instead of 9. And the price would be $1799. So sounds good.

Edited

Thanks. That’s interesting, but I still don’t think I’m buying it. The analog meter he’s talking about isn’t fast enough to show audio peaks. That part of his test sounds fishy.

But not only that- is it your experience that your battery life varies depending on what you’re listening to? For instance, does going to a rock concert diminish your battery life? If what he says is true, we ought to notice a huge difference if we’re listening to loud material. He’s alleging a normal range of 2-2.4 mA and peaks of over 6 mA (subtracting the bluetooth draw) That should result in 50% shorter battery life in loud environments. I just don’t find that to be the case.

Finally, the peak capacity of the 13 as compared to the 312 is 12 mA as compared to 10 mA. That’s a little over 1 DB. It’s just not much. It looks to me like the advantage of the 13 is battery life, not instantaneous current delivery.

I pick up my KS6’s on Thursday 4/9. As previously stated the cost was $1799.99. Does not include any accessories. I was also told that the first version TV streamer (I bought with my resound Future’s from Costco 3 years ago) will not work. I ordered the TV Streamer version 2 for an additional $259.99. I also ordered the mini mic for an additional $169.99 as the Costco fitter stated that some people are happy using this device to assist with hearing TV. If it works as stated, I will return the TV streamer version 2. The order sheet indicates that the KS6 uses 312 batteries.

I also bought a used iPhone 5 for $100 to use with the aids (I currently use an old dumb phone). I had to purchase a sim ($12.50) from KittyWireless.com to facilitate using this phone with PagePlusCellular. The plan I will use costs $29.99/month for 1,200 Minutes, 3,000 Text/Picture Messages,500 MB of Data 4G LTE Speed

So the plan is in motion.

@Emcee
Now that sounds great. Someone mention they wouldn’t be available until May but you’re getting them. They must be fudging on the availability of the Smart App. It was said they wouldn’t release them until the app was available.

Keep us posted.

In reply to @KenP

@KenP said:

If you disagree, copy the above to his comment section. It is an old blog but you may get a response, Greg.

I don’t feel the need to go correct the guy.

But back to my question to you: Have you ever noticed a change in your battery consumption based on the relative loudness of your surroundings?

Stopped by my local Costco in SW OH this evening. I have a test scheduled for tomorrow. They had a sample of the KS 6.0 and are taking orders They gave me the following website that has a lot of information on the 6.0: www.ks6userportal.com14. Check it out. I think you will be impressed with the amount of information available.

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