The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier Review

Overall 3.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

PattyTherre
The heart of , NY

Not a hearing aid replacement. Use extreme caution!

a lover of funky spy gadgets, fun loving, hearing impaired, suffering from inherited hearing loss, the owner and wearer of hearing aids, a lover of unique gadgets

Pros

seems to be well made for what it is, Inexpensive at about $35, works OK in a silent room for TV, amplifies sound, rechargeable battery and charger, looks like a phone headset, three sizes of ear pieces

Cons

is not a hearing aid replacement, will not make voices clearer, could damage your hearing, easily drops out of the ear, shouldn't wear in noisy areas, can't pick up specific sounds, nerve wracking, doesn't fit all ear canals, magnifies ALL sounds, very limited uses, you hear your own breathing and voice

JAN

2009

Quick View: The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier may be OK for watching TV with the sound low or for a few other things but there are so many negatives to using this thing. If you have hearing loss, this gadget will not address your specific needs and could very well HURT your hearing!

About The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier

I'm not ashamed to admit that I was ashamed to wear hearing aids when my hereditary hearing loss became quite obvious. I just refused to even consider thinking of wearing an aide in my 40's even though I had known I was going to lose my hearing like my father did for quite a while.

So, instead of addressing my hearing issues, I tried to cover them up. One way I tried was with The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier. This little gadget is really being pushed on TV right now as not only helping the hearing impaired to hear but helping those with normal hearing to "spy" on what others are saying as far away as 50 yards.

The unit looks like a cell phone headset but still is very obvious. I suppose no one would think much of it these days with Bluetooth technology and all the new gadgets out there. It has a rechargeable battery and a charger and comes with three ear tips for a good fit, although I found that my were canals were too small even with the largest ear piece. You can amplify sound up to 50 times. I figured that I surely didn't need anything more than this gadget to help my right ear to pick up sounds. That is my "bad ear" although both have fairly significant loss.

Here's the scoop on this thing. Yes, it does magnify sound. But it magnifies ALL sound. That is, if you're at a party and you want to hear what someone is saying across the room, you will be blown to bits by the voices and sounds near you. You won't be able to hear anything but tons of clatter and voices (including your own). Hearing aids are made for your special needs and they reduce ambient sounds while adjusting voices and other sounds to your needs. This thing doesn't have that ability. Imagine trying to JUST wear magnifying glasses for a sight impairment. They might be OK for reading but not for driving and every day living. Things would be blurry and you could wreck your eyes. That's why we get prescription eyeglasses when we have anything more than just a slight need for reading glasses.

The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier is OK when you are in a silent room watching TV. You can turn the sound down and hear the TV albeit not as crisp as normal. Remember, the amplifier is in only one ear (unless you buy two) so just one ear is picking up the amplified sounds which can be rather strange.

If you wear this gadget to any event that has a lot of background noise or where people are close to you speaking, you will find that all that amplification, even if you are hearing impaired, makes sounds a big mess. You can't filter out the background stuff you don't want to hear and just hear voices or whatever.

When I wore The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier, I honestly thought I would go mad. It did help me to hear the nurse call out my name in a busy waiting room at the doctor's office but it didn't make her voice clear. It just made the sound I couldn't understand loud. And everyone talking around me, the TV, the phone ringing, and all the other sounds that were going on around me in the waiting room made me crazy. It was just too much to try to sort out.

My son thought the The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier was cool so he wore it to see what his friends were saying without them knowing. He came home and said he about lost his hearing (Something no mother wants to hear, especially one who inherited a severe hearing loss.). He said that the thing was not at all what it said it was and that everything just got loud. That includes emergency sirens, planes, people yelling, dogs barking. All of which really COULD lead to some hearing loss if a person is exposed to 50 times amplification of those sounds on a regular basis. Also note that you can hear your own breathing, all your own movements, and if you happen to raise your voice, it will be amplified and zinged back into your ear (or ears if you have two). Maddening!

I suggest that you use The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier for watching TV in a silent room, maybe for going to the movies, and listening to music which is very low. Maybe people with age related slight hearing loss could benefit from this gadget if they are in a quiet environment but again, it is only in one ear and that can be unsettling.

I urge those with real hearing loss NOT to try to amplify their hearing. We don't lose our hearing that way. We lose pitches. Some lose high pitches, some lose low. I lost all my high pitches but can hear low ones perfectly. That means, if I wore the The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier and a plane passed overhead, I would be exposed to way too much sound. Same with when my dog barked. It was painful. And oddly enough, the gadget didn't help me to hear the high pitches (like birds) that I lost. It isn't sophisticated enough. My hearing aids are AWESOME and made just for me. Yes, they were a zillion times more expensive that any OTC gadget I could buy but my hearing is worth it. And so is yours.

My Viewpoint

The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier has its uses but they are limited. If you just want something to watch TV while your partner sleeps or if you want to amplify sound in areas that have very little ambient sound, this gadget works as well as the similar ones out there. If you have true hearing loss though, please see an audiologist and follow his or her instructions. And don't even think you'll be able to hear someone from across the room who is whispering about you because you will just hear everyone else MUCH louder and will not be able to hone in on any conversation. I give this amplifier 3 stars for what it is. It amplifies sound. If you use it as I mentioned, it works OK. I recommend it ONLY for those limited uses but I can't give it a thumbs up because of all the negatives. Please, please be careful and do not use this gadget in places where sound is loud like concerts, sporting events, or clubs. You could hurt your hearing and you just may go insane from all the needless loud clatter that all blends in together.

My Phonak Savia BTE Hearing Aid Review

Last edited on Jan 29, 2009

The Stealth SSA - The Stealth Secret Sound Amplifier is not recommended by PattyTherre

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Comments about PattyTherre’s Review

In response to GigiandAdonai's comment from Feb 3, 2009 at 9:36PM:

I have researched it and it is better than these spy things but still, a magnifier. Good for age related hearing loss but not for those who have lost pitches or have complicated hearing loss as I do. I had to pay $2600 each for my "ears". Ouch!

Have you considered and/or researched the miracle ear? Just wondering.

In response to LaurieM's comment from Jan 29, 2009 at 9:45AM:

You TELL me those bad things. I don't have to stealthly listen! Haha.

In response to bkovacs's comment from Jan 29, 2009 at 1:51PM:

I get by pretty well with no aides and often don't wear them (I should though) but life is easier with them. I tend to misunderstand certain words because certain letter sounds are in the frequencies I lost. This thing amplifies everything so the low pitches are really loud and the high ones don't seem to come through much at all for me. I get confused trying to follow conversations in noisy areas and with this, I go crazy. Everything is so loud, not just the person's voice who you're trying to talk to.

I have some hearing loss but have so far been able to avoid hearing aids. Like you, I've lost a considerable amount of the higher frequencies and some high-pitched tinitus masks what remains. The result is that it is really hard to pick out a voice in a room with many voices. Trying to follow a conversation in a bar or noisy restaurant is almost impossible. I can see where an inexpensive solution that looks like a Bluetooth headset would be interesting, but not if it amplifies all frequencies equally.

Excellent review... I'm sure you saved some people money.

--Bob