No doubt there are 1000+ opinions on this, but what are some really clear
external speakers for use
with SSB phone signals through my Yaesu FT-897? I'm 61 years old with
high frequency hearing
impairment due to 40 years of sitting by computers, and I need all the
help I can get in
understanding voice over static.

I have seen several enthusiastic recommendations for the Peavey Impulse II
mini monitor which is
fairly small and costs about $100. Does anyone have any experience with
it?

Icom and Yaesu both make multi-hundred dollar external speakers that have
gotten mixed reviews.

With aging ears, the frequency response above 8 kHz is not considered by the
medical trade. If you have a recognized HF imparement then what are we
talking about? Above 1 or 2kHz? This is not so uncommon. There are several
tricks you can use, your ears may be impared, but not your brain. For
example, use one or more of the following:

1 - Use stereo HiFi headphones - also good for blocking out external noise
and increasing concentration. Communications headphones have a restricted
response, which is NOT what you want.

2 - Use your HiFi system graphic equalizer - works wonders with aging ears.
Can make any speaker/headphone more suited to just your ears. People are
throwing these things away at the moment.

3 - Although designed for CW use, a hi-pass filter feeding the left-hand
channel and low-pass filter feeding the right-hand channel of stereo
headphones/speakers also work wonders. It spreads the AF spectrum out as a
frequency image across the viewing area in front of you. Each CW station can
be heard in a different physical location. Cost is about $2 for the
components.

Using this technique SSB can become more understandable, since CW and other
interference is often positioned at very specific points in the stereo image
and can be more easily ignored, just like advertising plackards on the
motorway, or commercial breaks on the telly.

If you proof as to your brains ability to filter, then just try listing all
the adverts you saw on the TV last night, or saw on the motorway. You
probably saw 60+ on the TV, or 200+ if you went on a "shopping trip"
downtown, but if you can remember four of them then you are doing well.

DW