sandpiper Posted August 8, 2020 Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 I have owned many ANR headsets over the years. In 2008 I settled on Telex Stratus 50D's for my 2007 CTSW. They worked great and were comfortable. One failed in 2016 and was fixed and refurbished by Telex. Now they have both failed and Telex no longer offers this service. I was going to buy two new ones but Telex no longer makes them with the Lemo connectors. I wanted the Lemo because the headset is powered by the aircraft and you never have to worry about batteries. So, what to do. A few years ago I bought a Lightspeed Zulu III. I also have a Bose X. Neither of these are as good as the 50D's for noise reduction. In my opinion at least. I finally broke down, after much internal resistance, and bought the Bose A20. The reason I resisted is because I didn't think they would be better than the Zulu III's. I figured it would be $1K spent for nothing better than what I had. I was wrong. Big time wrong! As soon as I started the engine I could tell they were better. They are quieter in all phases of flight. Of course, this is my subjective opinion. Others may not agree. But, if you are in the market for a headset, you need to at least try the A20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animosity2k Posted August 8, 2020 Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 I fly the A20's and I still find them to be noisy when I wear a hat and sunglasses as the ears don't seem to seal, but then again I have no other headset experience to compare it to and I'm sure that would still be the case with other headsets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Gee Posted August 8, 2020 Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 Could not agree more. The Bose A20s blow virtually everything out of the water in my opinion. I fly with several students who have various other headset brands, and while Lightspeeds are very good, their ANR is nothing compared to Bose. Been very happy with mine for 8+ years. Only problem I had was about 6 months after I got them. The jack on one of the plugs was intermittently cutting out. Called Bose, and they overnighted a new cable, no questions asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted August 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 55 minutes ago, Animosity2k said: I fly the A20's and I still find them to be noisy when I wear a hat and sunglasses as the ears don't seem to seal, but then again I have no other headset experience to compare it to and I'm sure that would still be the case with other headsets. I wear glasses and usually a hat. I make sure that no part of the ear cup is over the edge of the cap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrassStripFlyBoy Posted August 8, 2020 Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 I'm not anti Bose, and recently considered buying A20s, here's my experience from a month ago. I have a friend who loaned me one of his A20's, he loves them and has 4 in his collection. I started up plane on the ramp and when I powered on the ANR function at idle speed I was immediately impressed, I thought wow - I need these! They are comfortable and light weight, and certainly a nice product from fit / finish / durability and such. Then I started the flight, at speed up in the air they did not seem to be any different than my David Clark HT10-13.4's which are non ANR. I had them plugged in co-pilot side and would swap back and forth doing the "Pepsi / Coke Challenge". I did not care for the more treble / less bass tone of audio, my voice sounded different to me than the David Clarks, that was a minor point I could probably overcome. I realized real quick that cost and the ANR battery management was not worth the price, and plan to stick with my now 20 year old DC's. I am told by those who own Bose and Lightspeed ANR's that ear cushions need to be replaced often on them as well, where my DC's Gel are bullet proof. That is also a downside, can become sticky on the hot days, but not requiring replacement often. I would like to try the Lightspeed Zulu 3's, and DC One-X's, both in ANR. I think the situation here is highly personal experience, we're talking shape of head, size of ears, with or without glasses / hats, and sound quality of speakers / mic and such. In researching headsets back a month ago I came across this video, at least these guys attempted to take a scientific approach to analyzing them but still far from a decisive outcome. As for now, I'm still hunting for what/if to buy, and rather content with non ANR DC's I have, especially when solo and I'm feeding in Sirius Sat Radio tunes and drowning out the background anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted August 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 Bose recommends changing the ear cushions every 6 - 18 months. On my Bose X I changed at about 10 years which was too long. It all depends on use and environment. You don't want to wait too long as you will not enjoy the black, sticky mess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madhatter Posted August 8, 2020 Report Share Posted August 8, 2020 I've been using Telex 50 since they came out. For most of this time I never used the ANR function, I was flying a 310 and couldn't hear the engines well with the ANR function on. Engine sound change is my first indication of an issue on departure. This topic reminded me the I have never used the ANR in the CT. I need to get another headset and am not sure what to get. This topic should help me decide. I do like Telex and wonder if they have changed much since first sold. Does anyone know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted August 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 It's too bad you can't grab 2-3 loaners from an avionics shops or from friends and go test them. Problem is, at $800 - $1,000 a pop, how many avionics shops can afford to do this? Maybe Sporty's or similar. Also, in this day and age with Covid, I'm not sure I would partake anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted August 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 3 hours ago, Madhatter said: I've been using Telex 50 since they came out. For most of this time I never used the ANR function, I was flying a 310 and couldn't hear the engines well with the ANR function on. Engine sound change is my first indication of an issue on departure. This topic reminded me the I have never used the ANR in the CT. I need to get another headset and am not sure what to get. This topic should help me decide. I do like Telex and wonder if they have changed much since first sold. Does anyone know. I can't help you much. When I was considering new 50D's I noticed they have a control "stick" just like the others and they don't come with the Lemo connector. My 50D's did come with Lemo connectors (optionally) and there was no control stick since no battery was required. Volume controls were on each ear which I really liked. A nice thing about my Bose A20 with Lemo connector is that the control stick has a battery compartment. With a pigtail adapter you can use it in conventional dual plug aircraft and with a couple of batteries you have ANR. You cannot do that with my Zulu III or 50D's although I think there is a $99 pigtail with battery power available. Choices, choices. It was better in Henry Fords day. You could have your Model T in any color you wanted as long as it was black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madhatter Posted August 9, 2020 Report Share Posted August 9, 2020 Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill3558 Posted October 20, 2020 Report Share Posted October 20, 2020 I decided to pull the trigger on the Bose yesterday after getting annoyed with my Lightspeed Sierra. Maybe I was just tired, but the plane seemed noisy. Music was drowned out by ambient noise. I could hear whistles and wind noise in cruise. Bose offers a 60 day trial, so I’m going to check them out. Maybe I am just spoiled by noise cancelling technology, but my goodness our airplanes can be ear splitting if you take the headset off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted October 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2020 How did we ever do it before decent headsets? We yelled until hoarse, listened to transmissions through a speaker in the ceiling. Thing is, we never knew the difference. At least the Army and National Guard Hueys I flew had a good intercom and some noise reduction from our helmets. After most flights I had a ringing in my ears but it always went away - until it didn't. That was in 1974 which I remember well since it involved bringing my first plane, a 1948 rag wing C-170, home to Anchorage from Minnesota. That was when the ringing never went away. Bill, I think you will like your A20's. I really like mine. Hopefully threads like this one will cause those who still have good hearing to invest in the best hearing protection possible. Because once your hearing is damaged, it can't be fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted October 21, 2020 Report Share Posted October 21, 2020 8 hours ago, sandpiper said: Hopefully threads like this one will cause those who still have good hearing to invest in the best hearing protection possible. Because once your hearing is damaged, it can't be fixed. What? What did you say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill3558 Posted October 24, 2020 Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 Flew 2 hours today with the Bose. I’m a believer. Fit better on my head and at least 20% quieter than my lightspeed Sierra. You get what you pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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