The Beltone legacy began in the 1930s when Sam and Faye Posen recognized the need for personalized and miniaturized hearing aid technology. Wanting to help a friend with hearing loss, Sam knew the hearing aids of the time couldn’t offer the individualized hearing capabilities he had in mind, as he wanted the music of life to come through “as clear as the tone of a bell.”
By 1940, Beltone was open for business in a modest building in downtown Chicago, Illinois.
In that first year of business, Beltone introduced its first hearing aid model, the Beltone Model H™.
But Beltone is more than the story of hearing aids. It’s the story of people who have brought about numerous, positive changes in the lives of the individuals they help and within the hearing care industry.
Larry Posen, son of Sam and Faye, invented the Micro-Module™ circuit, which made the tiny but powerful Serenade™ behind-the-ear hearing aid possible. Also using the Micro-Module circuit was the Bravo™, Beltone’s first in-the-ear hearing aid.
Beltone celebrated its 30th anniversary with a 50,000-square-foot addition to its headquarters in Chicago, featuring a walk-in virtually sound-proof room, to permit more sophisticated research into the challenges faced by the hard of hearing.
Technology continued to evolve at a rapid pace, and Beltone stayed ahead of the game in the hearing aid field. In 1994, Beltone introduced Invisa™, the first virtually invisible hearing aid. By the end of the 1990s, Beltone unveiled its first hearing aid made with digital technology: the Beltone Digital™.
