Music to my ears.

For the last several years, I've been using custom in-the-ear speakers from Bob Weiss at earplugco.com. These little gems provide 25-27 db attenuation while piping sound directly to the ear drum. This makes it possible to listen to music or GPS directions while protecting your hearing from the ravages of hour after hour of wind noise. This is important for a guy who already suffers from tinnitus and has significant loss of hearing in at least a couple of frequency ranges. Recently the left mini-transducer, contained directly in the ear mold, has been intermittently failing. While I've been happy with Challengers, I'd heard from a couple of well-respected LD riders about another custom ear monitor from Al Schibi of Meza, Arizona.

The difference between Al's plugs and the Challengers is the driver location. Al's larger drivers are located in a small box in between the electrical wire and the air tubes connected to the ear mold. Al's design allows for larger drivers that move more air, resulting in deeper base and a significant improvement in sound. At least, that's the company line. Hesitantly, I decided to give them a try. Al was as nice as could be and had a set delivered to my place about two weeks after he got the impressions of my ears.

I'm happy to report the claims are true. Al's plugs produce significantly better bass which means better sound, at least to my ears. While Al's plugs cost about 50% more than the Challengers, the alternative rock of XM's Lithium channel has never sounded so good. Al's a bit old school (no website), but he can be reached at customearplugs@cox.net .