When I got my first neckloop two years ago, I marveled at its simplicity and utility. It’s little more than a cord of insulated stereo-speaker wire that I loop around my neck and plug into a microphone or other source. But then, through the miracle of electro-magnetic induction, it transmits pure sound directly into my telecoil-equipped hearing aids.
The hottest news in the neckloop market right now is the new Clearsounds CLA7 Amplified Powered Neckloop from Hitec Assistive Communication Products. Available this August, it has a standard 2.5 mm jack that can plug into a cellphone, cordless home phone or other device with a built-in 2.5 mm jack connector; it has a built-in microphone enabling hands-free operation of the phone; it has up to 30 db gain of amplification with external amplification control; and it is powered by two standard AAA alkaline batteries. It is available directly from the Hitec ecommerce site, which I’ve used in the past for my two Clearsounds amplified desktop phones. Hitec previously mainly sold other vendors’ products, but in the past several years it has started designing, building and selling its own line of assistive listening devices. The CLA7 isn’t cheap at $119.95, but it’s impressive Hitec has rated the db gain. On hearing-loss chat boards, poor amplification with neckloops is a frequent complaint, but if the Clearsounds product delivers the full 30 db gain as advertised, the premium price may be more than worth it. This is a vendor I trust as they’ve provided excellent support in the past when I’ve had questions or needed technical help with products I’ve bought from them.
Hitec has another, slightly less expensive product, called the Hands-Free Neckloop Amplifier. I think Hitec might be planning on replacing it with the new Clearsounds CLA7, but for the time being it’s a proven product that has much of the same functionality as the new Clearsound product. The major difference seems to be that it uses standard hearing-aid batteries rather than AAA batteries, and the price is $99.95. I’m betting the amplification isn’t as great either.
Motorola sells a wonderful neckloop product (pictured at right) that’s compatible with any cellular phone with a 2.5 mm jack. It’s got a microphone for hands-free operation and an amplifier that has always provided enough gain for me to hear conversations. It’s also got a rechargeable battery that seems to last forever. A great product available directly from Motorola. (I just wish I could find the order form and price quote for it on their online e-commerce site!)
NOTE: many of the online sites often make it maddeningly difficult to find their neckloop products (and others). Even the Hitec site, which I feel is among the best online suppliers of assistive products, makes the search elusive. When you hit their “assistive listening” products button, their neckloops fail to appear. When you hit the “mobile communication” button, you get a drop-down menu that includes neckloops, but the list it takes you to doesn’t feature the new Clearsounds CLA7 product featured elsewhere on the site. When you put “neck loops” or “neckloops” into the site’s “find-product” search engine, you get a message saying, “This category does not contain products.” (That one nearly stopped me from finding the product at all). Only when you enter the singular “neck loop” or “neckloop” do you get to the page on the Hitec site with all the neckloop products. Then on the Motorola site, I can find a nice picture of the hands-free cellphone neckloop product I bought several years ago, but when I hit the “purchase this item online” button, it takes me to an online store where 20 minutes of searching turned up hide nor hair of the product. (I still included it in my list because it’s served me well, but I don’t feel like chasing down the information from Motorola over the phone, even with my neckloop, so I can’t quote a price!) I’m hoping these and other hearing loss e-commerce sites will fix such housekeeping problems, because they are needlessly creating disgruntled consumers and losing sales.
Williams Sound is the grand-daddy of neckloops and many other assistive listening products. The company’s website and catalogue feature an array of projects ranging from loop systems for rooms, amplified telephones, the venerable “PocketTalker” personal communicator, a variety of accessories, and more. Williams sells three different entry-level neckloop products, all with the same simple design featuring a 3.5 mm jack. One is a 45-inch-long model for adults like me who move around a lot and don’t like being tethered to their desktop phones by too short a leash, or who like the extra cord length to set their personal communicator microphones right in the middle of the conference table when they’re at a meeting. The second is an 18-inch-long model for adults who keep their phones or mikes close at hand and don’t want to have to deal with a lot of extra wire. The third is a 13-inch version for kids. Each is available on the Hitec site for $49. Williams sells the products through resellers, including Harris Communications, Phone Merchants, and Hitec, to name just a few of the online e-commerce sites featuring hearing assistance products. In addition to the Hitec site, I’ve had very good luck with Harris, a family-run operation that offers very good service and support in addition to a broad product line (and often, special offers for members of organizations such as Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, SHHH).
Nokia offers its accessability loopset (pictured at the right) for the popular 5100 and 6100 Series and many other lines of its cellular phones. It’s got a two-prong plug that appears to be proprietary to the connectors in those phones. I haven’t tried it but imagine that if it’s designed specifically for those products it does the job. It’s priced at $64.95 on the Nokia site.
Finally, Sennheiser sells two neckloops (but you’ll have to search the company’s site under “neck loop” — two words — NOT “neckloop” — one word — don’t ask me why) for $59 each. They are designed mainly for its broad line of DirectEar infrared TV listening systems, personal communicators and other assistive listening devices. One has a 2.5 mm jack and the other has a 3.5 mm jack, and both are also available on the Hitec site.
FINAL NOTE: When buying popular and widely distributed items, like the Williams Sound products that have been on the market for a while, it pays to shop around. In my latest search the Williams neckloops ranged in price from a high of $79.95 on the Phone Merchants site to a low of $49 on the Hitec site.