Hi Hank,
It takes getting use to and you may not notice the difference right away. Also that Barrel feeling you mention will go away just give it time. When I first started wearing them, I would take them out when I got home from work and wasn't really hearing the difference. But then...I started wearing them everyday (for 3 months straight) and taking them out right before bed each night. After 3 months of non-stop use I decided one day not to use them and see just how well I could hear my family..... it was at that point I realized the "magnitude of difference" in hearing my family's speech. Although mine are not damp or water proof so I do not wear them outside and was told by my audiologist not to do so. The amount these things cost, I am taking her advice. My hearing loss is in the high frequencies so women and children are very hard for me to understand even with my hearing aids. Although the hearing aid does help tremendously there are some people that talk with such a high pitched voice or they have a high pitched voice and talk softly I can't hear their words at all. Don't get me wrong, I can hear them I just can't make out the words they speak.Maybe that is a good thing lol? My problem too is hearing over the constant tinnitus (orchestra of 24/7 crickets chirping / ringing in my ears) I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Just a suggestion for watching TV is to buy a 900 mhz rechargeable analog wireless stereo headphone system. That way you can keep the volume down on the TV so it doesn't blow out your wife's eardrums and you can adjust the volume on your headphones.
As far as metal detecting, I never wear them. I use Sunray pro gold headphones. First I crank the volume all the way up on my detector then lower the adjustable volume knobs on the headphones to a comfortable level. Faithfully wear the hearing aid everyday and you will "see" that it does make a world of difference in hearing speech. Best of luck to you Hank and Happy Hunting!! - Jim