It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
You could try the Lightspeed QFR series. I bought the QFR Cross Country ($279), but in 50 hours of use, I’ve only turned on the ANR circuitry once. It’s so quiet even in passive mode that I no longer bother. The QFR Solo model ($149) might be all you need. It’s probably what I’ll buy for the rear seats. You can check out Mike Busch’s http://www.avweb.com/articles/lightspeedqfr/ review at AvWeb.
It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
Do you really need 4 headsets? When we fly with our two teenagers, we let them wear good quality, hearing protection (ear muffs) valued at $15 each. They look just like headsets and the noise attenuation is just as good, except for noise cancelling headsets, which my wife and I use. They can each use their CD player by running the wire of a small earpiece under each muff and inserting the earpiece in each ear. Even with the Garmin intercom with its many features, you still can’t run two CD players in the back seats, if each person wants his own genre of music. The biggest benefit is that we never get an argument (that we can hear) from the back seats. If I was going to buy two more headsets, I’d buy the Lightspeed 20, which is available for $400 from a few discount vendors and is the same as the Cirrus version except for the Cirrus name
imprint. The so-called headset “tuned” for the Cirrus is hard to believe since the theory of noise cancellation is that the headset automatically “tunes” to the opposite frequency of the noise to cancel the noise anyway. In other words, it’s tuned to whatever the noise happens to be.
It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
Bob, I really like my Lightspeed 20’s. They seem to be the right mix of cost, noise attenuation and comfort. Having the AA batteries instead of wiring to ships power has not been any problem since the 20’s have an automatic power disconnect if the unit doesn’t detect any use after a short period of time. I’ve got 30hrs of time on the current set of batteries. I paid $380 at Sun-N-Fun for each. Good luck!
Bob: I know you are watching your budget, but I’ve got to tell you that the Bose X is a fantastic headset! I tried a LightSpeed 25XL for a week and found that it was uncomfortable - too much side pressure and my ears became too hot.
I ordered the Bose X from their web page and they came the next day.
The are much lighter and totally confortable. Even without the noise canceling on, the sound level is fine. With it on it’s …quiet… and yet I can hear the engine sounds fine.
Yup, each one is $1000, but over the life of the plane the cost isn’t so bad.
It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
Bob, my wife and I both have Lightspeed SR20’s and they are great!! The folks at Lightspeed even custom made my wifes, by decreasing the tension on the headband and adding softer ear pieces; at no extra charge. Might I suggest SR20’s for the front seats, and SR 15’s for the back; that would, I think, keep you close to the $1000 budget. Also you might do slightly better by buying direct from Lightspeed. Mike #396
Get the best headsets you can get for the front seats (probably either the Bose X or one of the Lightspeed models, depending on your taste and the size of your head and wallet) and get something relatively cheap for the back seats, since they will go unused most of the time. I ended up with Bose Xs for the front and Lightspeed 20s for the back, but good lightweight (and cheap) passive sets for the back oughta be OK.
Hello Bob.
Somtimes too many choices makes it hard. I like what Steven had to say. Once you buy what ever it will last you a long time so why not extend your budget and take care of your self “go first class” that’s why you are getting a Cirrus anyway.
Here is a suggestion for the back seat. MDR-NC10 these are Sony ear piece with noice cancelling http://www.sonystyle.com/sonystyle/4784/4865/7801/4890/4906/350.free.html (sorry I don’t know how to do it the nice way “link”. I have a couple I can get them for $175, they are great, and you can take them with you in your shirt pocket, the sound is much better then even the bose because there is no head band, the only negative is there is no mic. Which is not bad, not too long ago we flew noise airplanes without anything and did not complain. This should help you stay in your budget. Take care, and we all know you will have a great Cirrus day soon.
Woor
PS for some reason my pilot4hire@bigfoot.com has been down for a while, try pilot4hire1@home.com the last one will work till the end of the month.
It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
Bob,
It looks like there is no shortage of opinions on headsets! I will add mine anyway. Someone recommended the Pilot 17-19 with the rechargeable batteries built in to the earpiece. I can also endorse the same headset for the same convenience factors. It has excellent passive attenuation, so good that I forget to turn it on sometimes. I bought a pair of Lightspeed 25XL a Sun-N-Fun just to try something different, and I am a little disappointed. I need to send the Lightspeeds back because of distortion in the left earcup whenever I receive any transmision, whether over the radio or the intercom. The Lightspeeds are more comfortable than the Pilots, though.
Greg
It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
I just saw the Lightspeed 15 on the web for $315. That’s what we use for our Archer and they’re fine. That’s close to your budget. Don’t you always bust your budget anyway, especially with airplanes?
Do you really need 4 headsets? When we fly with our two teenagers, we let them wear good quality, hearing protection (ear muffs) valued at $15 each. They look just like headsets and the noise attenuation is just as good, except for noise cancelling headsets, which my wife and I use. They can each use their CD player by running the wire of a small earpiece under each muff and inserting the earpiece in each ear. Even with the Garmin intercom with its many features, you still can’t run two CD players in the back seats, if each person wants his own genre of music. The biggest benefit is that we never get an argument (that we can hear) from the back seats. If I was going to buy two more headsets, I’d buy the Lightspeed 20, which is available for $400 from a few discount vendors and is the same as the Cirrus version except for the Cirrus name
imprint. The so-called headset “tuned” for the Cirrus is hard to believe since the theory of noise cancellation is that the headset automatically “tunes” to the opposite frequency of the noise to cancel the noise anyway. In other words, it’s tuned to whatever the noise happens to be.
It’s getting closer to my pickup date (N762CD / July 19th) and headsets are among the many items on my shopping list. I’ve reviewed past posts from the Forum archives (Lightspeeds, Bose, etc.) but just find it difficult to plunk down $500 for a headset (the price Cirrus is asking for the Lightspeed SR20), especially when I need to outfit the entire airplane. I need four headsets (my personal headset is a 12-year old cheapie that I plan to replace and hang on to as a spare).
I’m budgeting $1000 for all four. A quick scan of Sporty’s reveals many choices (Sigtronics, Telex, David Clark, Peltor, Pilot, etc.). I’m looking for some help out there on what to buy and where/who to buy from.
Finally, although probably outside my budget anyways, what’s the advantage of a powered headset, battery or panel powered?
Bob Mihocik
Bagger
I just saw the Lightspeed 15 on the web for $315. That’s what we use for our Archer and they’re fine. That’s close to your budget. Don’t you always bust your budget anyway, especially with airplanes?
They’re $299 at www.headsetsetc.com
Bob: I know you are watching your budget, but I’ve got to tell you that the Bose X is a fantastic headset!
How are you managing the connections for the Bose? I have a Bose X now that I use in rental planes. Someone at Cirrus recommended the Pilot Avionics 17-79 ANR because they will make it with a Cirrus-compatible Ships-Power connector, so you can have them pluggable/unpluggable but still not use batteries. I tried one on, and it is not as quiet as the Bose.
My understanding is you either have the Bose permanently wired in, and use ships-power, or pluggable with battery. But if it is hardwired, then you don’t have the option to use a handheld transceiver with the headsets in an electrical emergency. Have you found anyone who can rewire the Bose to have Cirrus compatible Ships-Power connectors?
-Curt
(taking delivery 7/2)
Someone at Cirrus recommended the Pilot Avionics 17-79 ANR because they will make it with a Cirrus-compatible Ships-Power connector, so you can have them pluggable/unpluggable but still not use batteries. I tried one on, and it is not as quiet as the Bose.>
I chose the Pilot 17-79 and love it. $399 at marvgolden.com. Though I haven’t tried the Bose X, I can report that the Pilot’s active noise reduction works amazingly well. Other helpful features: detachable cord (you can walk around loud flight lines using ANR), rechargeable battery inside the unit (no external box to mess with, and no replacing batteries), battery lasts 30-60 hours between rechargings.
Having the ship’s-power cable available would make the 17-79s even more flexible. I’ll have to look into that when I’m flying regularly in a Cirrus.
Nolan
How are you managing the connections for the Bose? I have a Bose X now that I use in rental planes. Someone at Cirrus recommended the Pilot Avionics 17-79 ANR because they will make it with a Cirrus-compatible Ships-Power connector, so you can have them pluggable/unpluggable but still not use batteries. I tried one on, and it is not as quiet as the Bose.
My understanding is you either have the Bose permanently wired in, and use ships-power, or pluggable with battery. But if it is hardwired, then you don’t have the option to use a handheld transceiver with the headsets in an electrical emergency. Have you found anyone who can rewire the Bose to have Cirrus compatible Ships-Power connectors?
-Curt
(taking delivery 7/2)
Curt,
I just picked up my SR22 (s/n 0032, N180KT) last weekend. I had ordered four bose headset jacks “to go” so that I could figure out how to have them installed and deal with the problems you mentioned above. Due to a misunderstanding, Cirrus installed them. When I heard about this, before I inspected the airplane, I thought “Uh oh”, we’re about to start training and my headsets won’t work in my new airplane.
Not to worry, though. The Bose jacks are installed in parallel with the standard jacks. The Bose jacks replace the power jacks, but the headphone and microphone jacks remain. You can then use either a standard headset or the Bose “hardwired” version. The Bose jack provides power and audio all in one jack.
I’m going to convert my Bose headsets to hardwired. I’ll keep one standard headset as a passenger headset and for use with my handheld in case I have radio failure.
-Mike