What do loop systems cost?

Lecture hall and seminar room, Royal Society of Edinburgh

Ideally, people with hearing loss would receive this broadcast sound directly through their own inconspicuous and personalized hearing aids. If public venues would install loop systems, more and more people in the USA, as in Europe, would become equipped to use the system. In the interim, loop systems can serve those not equipped with hearing aids just as do infrared and FM assistive listening systems--with portable receivers and headsets. (Rarely, however, are existing portable receivers checked out and used; most people are either unaware of their availability, unwilling to fuss with the hassle, or averse to being conspicuous.) Over time there would be less and less need to purchase and maintain portable receivers as more and more people harness the power of the optimum assistive listening system.

For theaters, this means payback from increased attendance at movies and plays by people with hearing loss (many of whom report no longer going, because of the challenges of hearing). For courts, this means jurors who understand essential proceedings (and who can also be assisted in understanding jurors during deliberations). For auditoriums this means making one's events optimally accessible to all attendees.