Ardente "2" (Single) Carbon Hearing Aid The Ardente "2" (single) carbon hearing aid was manufactured by Ardente Acoustic Laboratories, Ltd. of London, England around 1940. Mr. R. H. Dent, the founder, used his name prominently on many of his hearing aids along with the Ardente trade name. It seems the name "Ardente" was made up of his first initial "R" but pronounced as though it were spelled "AR", his last name "Dent" and then a "fancy" "E" on the end. These carbon hearing aids did not have any model numbers, and since there isn't much documentation available, I have numbered four somewhat similar models as "1", "2", "3" and "4" to differentiate them.
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| Front view of the Ardente "2" carbon microphone. It used carbon shot. (When you shake it, you can hear the shot rattle.) The two pins on the battery case pushed into the two jacks on the bottom of the microphone case. The microphone was 2 3/16" in diameter and 11/16" thick (5.6 x 1.7 cm).
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| Rear view of the Ardente "2" carbon microphone. The slot at the top was to thread a lanyard through so you could wear this hearing aid around your neck. Note that this hearing aid did not have any volume control. What you heard was what you got.
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| Bottom view of the Ardente "2" carbon microphone showing how the two pins of the battery compartment fitted into the female sockets on the microphone.
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| Ardente used this rather interesting plug configuration—one pin and one jack on each plug. This plug joined the earphone or receiver cord to the microphone.
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| Front view of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid earphone. The earphone measured 2⅛" in diameter x 11/16" thick (5.4 x 1.8. It was unusually heavy, weighing in at a hefty 3.2 oz. (92 g).
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| View of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid earphone with headband attached. The headband "pins" snapped into the two small holes on each side of the earphone.
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| For storage, the headband of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid unsnapped from the ear phone and folded in half.
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| Rear view of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid earphone showing the on/off switch (top center) in the off position. On is up and off is down.
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| The Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid also came with a more discrete receiver and wire ear hook to help hold it in place.
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| Rear view of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid receiver showing the on/off switch (center). "On" was up and "off" down.
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Front view of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid earphone showing the ear tip removed. Early receivers came with stock ear tips. The ear tip screwed to a post on the receiver so it could easily be replaced with one of a different size.
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| Top view of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid receiver stock ear tips showing three different sizes.
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| Front view of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid receiver stock ear tips showing three different sizes. Note the different bore sizes too.
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| The bottom of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid battery case opened to show the battery compartment. This hearing aid used a 3 volt Ardente No. 77 battery.
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| Inside view of the battery compartment of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid battery case showing the brass clip contacts. This hearing aid used a battery with matching flat brass spring clips.
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| The Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid in its storage case. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Close-up of the name and address on the inside of the lid of the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid storage case. It reads, "Mr. R. H. Dents Ardente for Deaf Ears 309 Oxford St London W. 1. and Branches".
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| The carrying/storage case for the Ardente "2" carbon hearing aid. The case measured 10½" x 3¼" x 2" deep (26.6 x 8.3 x 5.1 cm). |  | Click picture for larger view | | |
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