Oreille US
Senior Audiologist Reviews Every Personal Sound Amplifier Option in America — From Basic OTC Devices to $6,000 Clinics — and Reveals What She'd Actually Recommend
My name is Dr. Janet Morris, I'm a retired clinical audiologist with over 30 years of experience fitting personal sound amplifiers in the United States.
And I've never been more frustrated with this industry.
Every week I hear from people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who are stuck in the same impossible situation.
Medicare won't cover personal sound amplifiers at all — most people are shocked when they find that out. Those who qualify through the VA wait months, and everyone else is on their own.
Private clinics will see them tomorrow, but they want $6,000 or more.
And Amazon is full of cheap devices that promise the world for $40.
Most people end up doing nothing.
They turn the TV up.
They ask people to repeat themselves.
They stop going to places they used to love because they can't follow conversations anymore.
After 30 years of watching this happen, I decided to do something about it.
I bought all the different personal sound amplifier options with my own money and tested them all.
On real people. Over six months.
Here's what I found.
VA and Private Insurance Personal Sound Amplifiers
They're heavily subsidised — sometimes free if you qualify. The technology is decent, the government buys from the same manufacturers as the private clinics.
But you'll wait 6 to 18 months to get them. When you do, you'll most likely get behind-the-ear aids.
The big beige ones with a tube that hooks over your ear.
They work. But the batteries die every four days.
They whistle every time you pick up the phone. There's one volume setting for everything. And everyone can see them.
I fitted these for years. I know how many end up in a drawer.
About 2 in 5 people stop wearing them. Not because they're broken. Because living with them is exhausting.
Costco, Miracle-Ear, and the Private Clinics
Average price at Costco Hearing Center: $1,600. Miracle-Ear: $4,500. Beltone: $6,000.
The technology is good. I'm not going to pretend it isn't.
But after 30 years in this industry, I can tell you exactly what you're paying for.
The personal sound amplifier itself — the receiver, the chip, the microphone — costs about $90 to $120 to manufacture. I've seen the supplier invoices. I know what these components actually cost.
The rest of that $6,000?
The retail location.
The sales staff.
The audiologist's commission — and yes, most private clinic audiologists earn a percentage of what they sell you. That's why they always recommend the premium range.
The regional manager.
The head office.
The TV ads.
And nobody tells you about the ongoing costs before you buy.
Batteries: about $60 a year for two aids.
Replacement parts when something wears out: $50 to $95.
When something breaks, one customer told me her private clinic charged $130 just to assess the problem.
Repair on top: $450 to $700.
Over ten years, you're looking at closer to $8,000.
For technology that costs $120 to make.
I spent my whole career watching retirees choose between their utility bill and their hearing. It made me sick.
Amazon
This is where I get genuinely angry.
What Amazon sells are not personal sound amplifiers. They're amplifiers. I need people to understand this because it's the single biggest reason people think cheap personal sound amplifiers don't work.
An amplifier makes everything louder. Voices, traffic, the fridge, your own breathing — all at the same volume.
It cannot separate speech from background noise. That's why voices stay muffled while everything else gets painfully loud.
A real personal sound amplifier has a digital processing chip that filters sound.
It makes voices clearer and pushes background noise down. Completely different technology.
That processing chip for personal sound amplifiers costs around $100 on its own.
If you're buying a complete device for $40 on Amazon, that chip is not in there. What you're getting is a speaker and a battery in a plastic shell.
In my testing, Amazon amplifiers were the worst option by far. Potentially dangerous. Risk of further hearing damage from unfiltered loud noise.
If you've tried Amazon and given up, you weren't trying personal sound amplifiers. You were trying amplifiers.
Please don't let that experience put you off.
Direct-to-Consumer: Lunova ($169.99)
This is the one that surprised me.
When I first heard about Lunova, I assumed it was another Amazon-style amplifier with better marketing. $169.99 for a pair of personal sound amplifiers? It didn't seem possible.
So I did what I'd do with any device. I opened them up. I looked at the components. I tested them on real patients alongside everything else.
They use Knowles receivers. That's the same supplier Costco and Miracle-Ear use.
Same digital processing chips. Proper multi-channel sound filtering, not amplification.
The technology is genuinely comparable to personal sound amplifiers costing thirty times more.
They're registered with the FDA as a medical device. Same registration standard as every personal sound amplifier sold in a private clinic. Same inspections. Same registration process.
Amazon amplifiers don't have this. Lunova does.
I looked into the company.
Founded by a man called David Taylor.
His father was in his seventies, struggling with his hearing, couldn't afford the private clinics on his pension, and Medicare wouldn't cover a cent of it.
Taylor had worked in the personal sound amplifier industry. He knew what the components actually cost.
When over-the-counter personal sound amplifiers became legal to sell direct in the US, he set up Lunova. Same components as the big brands. No retail location, no commission, no markup.
I emailed the company with some technical questions. A woman named Diane replied within four hours. Specific, detailed, knowledgeable. Not a chatbot. Not a template.
Returns: 45 days. Full refund. No cancellation fee. Guarantee: two years. If anything goes wrong, they replace it.
Rechargeable. No batteries. No fumbling over the sink every four days.
In my testing, most patients couldn't reliably tell the difference between Lunova and the personal sound amplifiers costing thousands.
The feedback was the same, over and over: "Why didn't someone tell me about this sooner?"
What I hear from real people
Since publishing my findings, I've heard from thousands of people who've tried Lunova. The same things keep coming up:
"TV volume went from 50 down to 8."
Robert, 78, Phoenix
"I paid $4,800 at Miracle-Ear two years ago. These are better."
Colin, 72, Denver
"Wore my VA aids for six years. Put them in a drawer after three days with these."
Roy, 74, Dallas
"Wasted $200 on Amazon before my neighbor told me what I'd actually been buying."
Keith, 71, Atlanta
My recommendation
After 30 years fitting personal sound amplifiers, here's what I tell everyone who asks.
If you're a veteran and you're happy with behind-the-ear aids, the VA route is a perfectly good option. It's covered and the technology is solid — if you're willing to wait.
If you want the best technology and money is no object, the private clinics will take care of you. You'll pay for it, but you'll get good aftercare.
But if you're like most people I've worked with — who can't justify thousands, whom Medicare left with nothing, and who don't want to waste money on Amazon junk that whistles and screeches — try Lunova first.
$169.99. Same core technology as private clinics.
45-day trial at home. If they don't work, just send them back for a refund.
I recommended them to my own father. 84 years old. Stubborn as they come.
Wouldn't wear the VA aids. Wouldn't pay $4,000 at a clinic.
Now wearing Lunova every day. "Should've done this years ago," he told me last week.
IMPORTANT UPDATE
Since this article was published, Lunova has gained tremendous attention and interest.
The company has reached out to our editorial team to inform us that, for a limited time, they are offering our readers an exclusive 50% discount on Lunova.
Plus, every order comes with a 45-day risk-free trial at home, 1-year warranty and free insured shipping.
If you don't experience clearer hearing within 45 days, you can just return it.
Check availabilityComments (6)
The bit about Amazon amplifiers is SO important. I wasted nearly $200 on three different pairs before reading this. Wish someone had explained the difference between amplifiers and actual personal sound amplifiers years ago. Would have saved me a lot of frustration.
My son sent me this article after I missed another phone call from my daughter. Just ordered Lunova with the discount. On a fixed income so $169.99 is a lot more manageable than the $4,500 Miracle-Ear quoted me. Fingers crossed. Will update in a few weeks.
My husband kept saying he'd "get around to it" for two years because Medicare wouldn't cover it and the clinic wanted $5,000. This article finally got him to act. Sharing with everyone I know.
2 weeks with Lunova now. Returned my $3,000 Costco aids for full refund. These work just as well. Already told 3 buddies at the VFW. Dr Morris is right about the markup. Should've found these sooner.
Bought my husband a pair for his birthday. He complained about it for a week. Now he won't take them out. Men...
TV volume went from 44 to 11. Wife can't believe it. Had VA aids for years but these are smaller, no whistling, and rechargeable. Should've done this years ago instead of fumbling with batteries every Monday morning.