Bose headets

Guest Discussion
#1

Hi all!

I am planning to get Bose headsets to use with my SR22. The question is:

  1. Do I need to specify anything special when ordering from Bose?

  2. Do I need to ask for anything in particular from Cirrus to make the noise canceling functional-such as power supply, etc?

I have batteries in my current David Clark headsets and do not like them. I also do not like the size and weight of the battery compartment. What is the best way around this with the Bose headsets?

  1. Does the SR22 panel supply the power to take the place of the batteries?

I would love to hear from anyone that is using this set up.

Thanks in advance.

Greg Ake
SR22 #196
greg@csinet.net

#2

Greg:

I have 2 Bose X headsets and I love them. After suffering with David Clark skull crushers for 24 years the Bose is like wearing a feather.

The hot setup is to get the battery-powered model and use little battery eliminators that plug in to the power jacks that are standard in the Cirrus console.

This would consist of a 9V battery “shell” that would be inserted into the Bose in place of a normal 9V battery. A wire would lead from the shell to a plug suitable for the headset power jack in the console. Only mod necessary on the Bose would be to file a little notch in the battery cover to allow the pigtail to emerge.

This is particularly nice because you don’t have to pay for an expensive mod from the radio shop to put Bose connectors in and pay for your existing battery-powered Bose headsets to be converted. Plus you can still use the Bose with a regular 9V battery for emergency use or if you are flying another aircraft.

Mike Radomsky’s son Max was going to go into business making these little battery eliminators. (Search the Forum for “mike and max.”) Haven’t heard whether that venture is up and running.

#3

Get the headsets without the battery box. They come with a small multi-pin “Lemo” plug on the end. They also come with a mating jack assembly. Your avionics shop will just remove the power plug for the two lightspeeds in the armrest console and replace it with the new jacks. THen all you have to do is plug the Bose headsets in. You will still have the two jacks for standard heatsets as well, but you will no longer need to use them. I think that the Bose headsets offer phenomenal noise canceling and also very comfortable on long trips.

Enjoy!
Paul
N925PW

#4

Greg,

I have Bose and am very satisfied, although it’s one of those price situation where you pay 50% more for the last 20% improvement. In any case, the Bose headsets are sold in two versions–battery and ships power–same price. The ships power version come with the connector that needs to be installed in the a/c. The ANR connector that Cirrus installs is, I believe, for Lightspeed headsets and will not work with Bose. The Bose connector is installed as a replacement to the existing power outlet which are located in the center consol. Cirrus was at one time offering this service post delivery in Duluth, but when I picked up #77 there were no longer doing this. Check with Chris Dixon who runs the Cirrus factory service center, perhaps he can do this for you. If not order the Bose battery headsets and use them until you can have your local shop do the install. No problem with Bose making the exchange. Installation is quite simple but remind you local shop that the voltage going to the outlets has to be reset since Bose operate on 10-27 volts, whereas Lightspeed are 9 volts. There’s a voltage selector switch in the consol. An earlier post on this forum detailed how to get to it. If you cann’t find let me know. Enjoy your new bird.

Craig Wiggins SR22 N2354B

#5

Thanks Gordon.

Is there only one way to order the Bose?

#6

Greg:

You can order the “portable” version, which is powered by the battery or the framitz I mentioned, or the “installed” version which has Bose’s special power/signal connector and would require special custom work to install mating connectors in the Cirrus. Click http://www.bose.com/anrheadset/how.htmlhere to view Bose’s web page showing these options.

#7

Paul: What did your avionics shop charge for installing the Bose jacks?

#8

Gordon,

It was just about $200. But it is a nice installation and nice not to have the KNOT at the base of the cord set, nor to worry about batteries.

Paul

Paul

#9

Craig said:
The ships power version come with the connector that needs to be installed in the a/c. The ANR connector that Cirrus installs is, I believe, for Lightspeed headsets and will not work with Bose. The Bose connector is installed as a replacement to the existing power outlet which are located in the center consol.

My response:
Craig, it is not necessary to alter your Cirrus console to accomodate the Bose X headset connector into your Cirrus aircraft. There are adapter boxes out there that allow you to use the current Cirrus installed jacks of the Cirrus Console. These adapter boxes are fairly small and fit very nicely into the console area and save substantial dollars versus installation altering the console area. The adapter box also allows use in aircraft that are not equipped with Bose X jacks utilizing the standard 1/4" type jacks. The power connector installed in the Cirrus aircraft is not specific to the LightSpeed headsets. In fact, the LightSpeeds are only battery operated at 3 Volts, so no external power is available for use with these headsets. The Cirrus power jacks are adjustable from 9 volts to 28 volts DC. I am working on an adapter for the LightSpeeds to use Cirrus ship power at 9 volts (the way Cirrus delivers the voltage adjustment from the factory). This would eliminate batteries for LightSpeed headset operation. Most all other headsets have solutions for converting to Cirrus ship power rather than relying on remembering fresh batteries. Several folks have had this conversion to the headset completed.

Just my two cents.

Chris Nowak

#10

Chris,

Where do I get one of these adaptor boxes? Sounds like the best solution I have heard so far. I am sure all the ideas will work, but, this one seems to be the most versatile. I assume I need the ships power version from Bose, or do I need the battery op version?

I like the idea of being able to use the sets in any aircraft. I don’t really care if I have the noise canceling when in another aircraft.

Greg

#11

Oh my God…did I just reply/bring back to life a 16 year old post?!?

Yes I did.

While searching the COPA forums for an issue we’re having, I ran across this ancient blast from the past, but it is the exact issue that we’re having now.

We have a 2001 SR20 with the ‘really odd’ three jack connector for the headsets in the center console. There are two jacks for the standard two plug headset “David Clark” setup and then there is a third ‘ANR’ jack.

We have older Bose X headphones (which we just made new with the upgrade kits) with the LEMO connector.

I guess this three jack setup only happened for a couple of years in the Cirrus and then it was abandoned for the LEMO jack.

In this older post, it appears that, at least at one time, there was an adapter that could be had. Any thoughts on if this is still something that can be done?

We have the LEMO conversions kits from BOSE, but we were quoted $600 to put them in. Not super cost effective. I’m hoping that there is an adapter available to convert LEMO to the three plugs, but I’m not finding anything on the internet.

Any ideas or leads would be most appreciated!

I now return you to 2017…

#12

That 3rd jack is a 9V DC power source for a headset that never gained much traction. Later Cirrus jsut gave in and put LEMO’s in.

Do you have Bose X’s or A20’s? You used to be able to buy the battery box style boom for the X’s - you would have to chack to see if they are still available for the older headsets. You replace the entire boom, cable and box. I think for the A20’s they have an adapter.

#13

Thanks Roger. I didn’t realize the third connector was 9 volts. We have the Bose X’s with the LEMO connector. I’d like to stay away from a battery box and be hard wired. Seems like the batteries always go bad at the worst time.

We’ll check with Bose at Sun n’ Fun and see if there is anyway to convert our headsets.

Does $600 (6 1/2 hours) seem reasonable to put LEMO connectors in, especially since most of the wiring is already there, in the three jacks?

#14

The 9 volts was set at the factory but there is a way to adjust the voltage provided. There is a transformer that is adjustable. I converted mine long ago to LEMO’s. It is the way to go frankly. 6 hours sounds long. But it is tedious, soldering in the lemo wiring to the jacks already in there. Ask around, you might get a better quote.

#15

Thanks much, Roger. That sounds like the best way to go.

#16

I did a ton of searching about this on the forum around the holidays because I bought an '02 with the same weird jacks. There were a few threads where ppl listed pricing for converting to LEMO, none of them as high as 6 hours. The upshot I gathered was “you just have to find the right shop” and you can get it done for under $300. Not sure how true that was but multiple owners posted across the threads I reviewed. I just haven’t started shopping different shops to investigate, yet. Hope that helps.

#17

Thanks Matt. I found a local avionics shop that quoted me 3 hours labor @ $90.00/hour. Much better.

Also, there are a few parts (wires, LEMO plug, etc) but that shouldn’t be all that bad.

#18

The Bose LEMO jack with wiring harness attached is ~$60.00 each. Three hours for installation seems about right.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/bosexaccess8.php?clickkey=10792

#19

Thanks for that, Mark.