Speech intelligibility in noise was tested pre- and postoperatively after 27 stapedectomy cases and 10 cases of reexploration after previous stapes surgery. We did not find a postoperative threshold shift (signal-to-noise ratio) for the intelligibility of sentences presented in noise. This finding corresponds well with the absence of postoperative high-frequency sensorineural loss in these patients. Using two types of prostheses we found a significant amelioration of speech intelligibility in quiet for the Schuknecht minihole prosthesis as compared to the House wire loop.