Hi Craig,
Two months ago I went through exactly what you are concerned about. At 62 I have known for a few years that I had hearing issues in the range that normal speech falls. I spent a couple of days on the internet starting with - Hearing aids for audiophiles. I filtered through more information than I thought I would find on the subject. Apparently there are more of us than one would have thought.
I decided on the manufacturer Widex and there was ENT-Dr. near me that carried their products. They have many different products to choose from.
After my testing I was told I had a loss that started at about 200Hz dipped about 25-30 db and came back to normal around 7000Hz. Both the Audiologist and the Dr told me I was profoundly deaf. I didn't agree with profoundly but my wife did
.
I decided if I was going to give this a fair chance I would go with one of the higher end products. I chose the U4PATS model. It has 12 frequency bands they can adjust to your specific hearing issues. They are quite small and have a remote to access volume and different programs in them. I like the remote rather than having to play with buttons on the hearing aid itself. There may be an app you can download to make the adjustments but I have not gotten that far yet. They also came with a 30 day trial and all of the money except the fitting cost of $200 was refundable.
Now for what you really want to know. I was concerned that I would hear a mono type signal and lose the sound stage and image detail. None of that happened. It was all the same with the addition of suttle details and maybe not so subtle. The most noticeable, female harmonies became much clearer and the number of times the sound of the tip of a drum stick touching a cymbal.
I tried listening with the aids in and taking them out mid song. There was no change in the stage and image. Just a drop in the detail on frequencies my old ears don't hear any more.
All this said many of the people that did research and wrote about it said " If you need hearing aids and don't like the sound listening to music. Take them out and just turn it up."
The only things that are an issue with them is, a bit of an echo in your ears when you first put them in but that seems to go away fairly soon. Still haven't gotten use to having something in my ear, when it itches I take it out and scratch it and put it back in. Also try to remember to take them out before getting in the shower.
Overall it is well worth the investment.
Good luck, if you have any other questions just ask.