Headset comfort: Lightspeed or Bose A20?

Fearless Tower

Fearless Tower

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Fearless Tower
So, in preparation for our family Holiday trip out west in the Beech 18, my wife just informed me that she wants a new headset.

I currently have Bose X headsets for the pax in the Beast. I myself use a Clarity Aloft.

This was the first time she complained about the Bose X. I think her chief complaint was that she feels like the Bose pinches the top of her head. I use Bose X headsets in the Citation, and never noticed this, so not sure what the best option is as far as an upgrade?

For those that have flown with both, are Lightspeed's noticeably more comfortable than Bose?

Is the A20 a huge improvement of the X? Seems like the A20 has the same top-hinged head band.

Any other headsets I should consider? I don't think she'll want to do a Clarity Aloft in-ear style for 2 days of travel.
 
I only know the old school DC’s and lightspeed Zulu 2/3’s. I did recently try on the A20 in a friends plane, and I felt that it was clampy and heavy. I prefer my zulu3’s. That’s just me. Everybody is different though.
 
I don’t own an A20 but have used them a lot. 3 hour legs still feels fine. I’ve never tried any lightspeed products.
 
Flew a 6hr leg last week - longest single leg for me ever - Bose A20's were so comfortable I didn't even notice them. Haven't tried the Lightspeed cans but the A20's head and shoulders over the PNR DCs. YMMV
 
I have the A20s. My dad has Zulu 2s (or maybe 3s)? They are both great honestly. I haven’t worn the Zulus long enough to give you any proper comparison between the two. I do remember the Zulus feeling lighter. I don’t think you could go wrong with either.

I have Clarity Aloft Links (Bluetooth version) as well. They kill the back of my ears after a few hours of flying. That said, I’ve kept them because I found them to be the best option for the small amount of aerobatic flying I’ve done.
 
Bose uses a center high-mounted torsion spring. Lightspeed uses a leafspring. If the Bose X pinches the top of her head then the A20 will likely also. Might want take advantage of Lightspeed's 30-day trial to see if a Zulu 3 or PFX works out.
 
After reading so many posts on multiple threads on the topic of headsets I've come to the conclusion this is a very personal issue of fit and comfort.

I am an unabashed David Clark aficionado. But I've heard so much about Bose over the decades I was a bit excited when I ended up with a pair of them in the Husky. I used the A20 when I ferried the plane from Boulder. Six legs total, zigzagging around crap weather. Total of almost 11 hours in the plane. Absolutely cannot stand the A20. Very uncomfortable (so much so I could hardly wait to get them off after a leg), not nearly as good noise cancelling as my DC ONE-X (the Bose seem to be very fussy with the ear seal and not tolerant of much head movement), and I am going to replace it.

Now having said that, I know there are lots of folks that swear by them. That is why I think its best to figure out some way to try a headset for a couple hours or more on a cross-country before making a decision. It's just very personal fit, comfort and preference.
 
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jordane93 said:
I don’t own an A20 but have used them a lot. 3 hour legs still feels fine. I’ve never tried any lightspeed products.
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Agreed
I used A20s on a 12 hour flight with a short stop for fuel. They don’t pinch that hard, it’s not like I have a small head. ;-)

FYI:
It might help not to have your glasses temples behind your ear, I just barely tuck them underneath the ear cups, otherwise you’ll get more noise passing through as well.
 
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My dc’s used to bring tears to my eyes after long flights. I can fly all day in my a20’s with out noticing it. My passengers prefer the a20’s over other headsets. I wish they were cheaper but I will pay their price when I need another set again.
 
Borrow an old DC set for her for a little while. Then next time she puts on the Bose X, she will love it.
 
fly down to Banyans and try a whole bunch of headsets on so you can choose fo yo'self.
 
Bose A20 all the way. I've worn them for two 4 hr stretches and they're epic. So comfortable! Wore a Lightspeed for half an hr once and they were no where near as good.. noise cancelling less effective and clamp pressure too high
 
^owned them for 2 years now and have about 200 hrs with them, zero complaints
 
The A20 is the gold standard IMO, but I don’t think it’s significantly better than the X, which is also a great headset.
 
I've had Zulu 2s for a few years in the Cessna. Very happy. This summer I installed A20s into my helmet for the Cub. Happy there, too. Both are great for ANR and bluetooth functions. Toss a coin on that argument. What's different is that Zulus fit over your ears and Bose sit on your ears. Glasses? Advantage Bose. Otherwise? Try both on and see what feels better to you. That's what matters.
 
I went with Zulu 3 for many reasons. For starters I got a screaming deal on them. They are also much higher quality than the Bose and I’m normally a Bose lover. The ear cup is much larger and deeper which fits my ear style better. I love the braided wire vs the extruded Bose one. They are heavier and more bulky than a Bose and I think the Bose my be a ever so slight bit quieter. The biggest turn off on the Bose for me was the shallow ear cups. My ear would touch the course foam on the inside and it bugged me.
 
I have lightspeed (Zulu and Tango) and have no problem with either of them. I suspect that audio quality is pretty similar, but might concede a slight edge to the Bose.

But fit is an entirely personal matter. What fits me (or you) perfectly probably wouldn't fit your wife the same. The best, and really the only good advice, is to go try on several pairs and see what feels best. Hopefully you can get some sort of return/exchange guarantee because what feels good standing up in the store for a few minutes may not feel so good after 3 or 4 hours in the cabin.

Why not let her have your Claritys, or get her a pair for her own. From what I hear, they are one of the most comfortable.
 
I use Lightspeed Sierras for myself and FSPs (front seat passengers) and carry some good Soft-Com PNRs for BSPs and spares. I tried all the various high end ANR and the Sierra seemed to have the best all around fit/comfort/feature/price mix of the herd. The warranty is awesome as well. I beat the headset up pretty good for a three years (appx. 1000 hrs.) then had the whole thing reworked for about $35.00.
 
I use a Lightspeed Zulu 2 in the left seat, Bose A20 for the right seat (mic boom is on right side), and Lightspeed Sierras in the back seats.

I prefer the Lightspeeds hands down. Plus customer service is the reason I will stand by lightspeed. Bose is awful
 
FWIW, I have trouble with A20. My wife has a pair, and borrowed them once for a week. There's no problem with fit and comfort, but it wasn't any better than my DC. And, I found some things to dislike. 1. The on-off switch is a button, so I have to press and make sure it works (for both on and off). 2. The battery wart is stupid large, always in a wrong spot, and there's a concern for pressing buttons inadvertently. 3. The manual forbids lithium batteries. 4. The set turned out to be incompatible with my airplane, where ignition noise gets into the radio, and then confuses the heck out of electronics in the A20. It was so loud that I had to plug ears with cotton balls under the headset. The A20 works well in my Mooney, but clearly the electronics and/or software may stand an improvement.
 
zaitcev said:
FWIW, I have trouble with A20. My wife has a pair, and borrowed them once for a week. There's no problem with fit and comfort, but it wasn't any better than my DC. And, I found some things to dislike. 1. The on-off switch is a button, so I have to press and make sure it works (for both on and off). 2. The battery wart is stupid large, always in a wrong spot, and there's a concern for pressing buttons inadvertently. 3. The manual forbids lithium batteries. 4. The set turned out to be incompatible with my airplane, where ignition noise gets into the radio, and then confuses the heck out of electronics in the A20. It was so loud that I had to plug ears with cotton balls under the headset. The A20 works well in my Mooney, but clearly the electronics and/or software may stand an improvement.
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1. LED or sound tells you it’s on/off
2. You have to press and hold, so it’s unlikely. They have a version that uses ship power but then they don’t work if you are not in your own plane with special plugs.
3. I use rechargeables, they last about 50 hours. I carry lithiums as backup and have used them as well with no issues. Don’t know why they say that.
4. I would fix the airplane radio (likely a disconnected p-lead or bad cap).
 
Used A20s on a 12 hr leg. Wasn't good. After about 5.5 hrs it's not comfortable to me.
 
Artimas said:
It all depends on head shape. Try them both with Sporty's 30 day guarantee and decide. It's the only way to know for sure.
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This. I have 4 perfect condition A20s in the plane but my wife does not like them and keeps hanging on to her old pair of Lightspeed Zulus (first gen) with the fraying cord and loose microphone boom. She just finds it much more comfortable than the Bose. And her head looks normal to me but there you go..
 
I have 2 pairs of A20s, 1 pair of Zulu3, and one Sierra in my plane. The A20s stay in front seats. The A20 is lighter and feels more comfortable to me after a 3-hr flight. However, I honestly can’t tell the difference between any of them, including the cheaper Sierra, for a shorter flight. You just have to try them on yourself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Stewartb said:
I've had Zulu 2s for a few years in the Cessna. Very happy. This summer I installed A20s into my helmet for the Cub. Happy there, too. Both are great for ANR and bluetooth functions. Toss a coin on that argument. What's different is that Zulus fit over your ears and Bose sit on your ears. Glasses? Advantage Bose. Otherwise? Try both on and see what feels better to you. That's what matters.
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What model helmet are you able to fit the A20 into?
 
Flyin Mike said:
What model helmet are you able to fit the A20 into?
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Gallet LH050. Tiger Performance made up a drop-in kit. They can also install the Zulu helmet version but Lightspeed requires an approved shop does the install. I believe you can get the same for Gentex and Bonehead helmets.
 
Stewartb said:
Gallet LH050. Tiger Performance made up a drop-in kit. They can also install the Zulu helmet version but Lightspeed requires an approved shop does the install. I believe you can get the same for Gentex and Bonehead helmets.
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Thanks!
 
B
kayoh190 said:
The A20 is the gold standard IMO, but I don’t think it’s significantly better than the X, which is also a great headset.
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I own both the Bose and Zulu 3's. Agree A20's are the gold standard; lighter, slightly better noise cancelling and audio. I have both because like others have said, ear and head size might force the choice for you. Zulu's have larger ear cups.

Totally cool to buy both and take advantage of each factory's try em' & buy em' policy.

-David
 
Mike on Zulu's is on the one side only, forcing the other side pilot to wear it backwards.
 
Like some of the others, I can't compare our Zulu 3's to A20. If you are curious about Zulu 3 for passengers read on.

My wife absolutely loves them (normal sized knoggin'). She is also a pilot. The fact they are left side mic only doesn't bother here as a passenger. She's got about 3000hrs and it took 4 seconds of ANR to convert here. She also has immediate respect for the cable and controller. She doesn't fly IFR anymore so she has not used them to call in a clearance on ground. I have called her a few times before departure and it was workable but just not seemless.

My daughter (11) also loves them. She connects the wireless bluetooth to her ipad and watches a movie. There is a dedicated button to prevent ATC/ Intercom from interrupting them. If the Nav/Com volumes are cranked up then moving the Zulu 3 volume to lowest doesn't quite mute ATC/intercom...but low enough that movies and music are enjoyable.

Audio quality is good enough, but ideal for movies, podcast, audio book. If you are a audiophile....well I probably lost you at "Bluetooth"...otherwise I've also enjoyed listening to music.

I think Zulu 3's are awesome and definitely fantastic passenger headsets.

Maybe you could buy 1 set if Zulu 3's from @pigpenracing and if they aren't right for your wife you make them a backseat headset.

I know for me it would take more than a 5 min store try on to be absolutely sure.
 
Tl;dr: Fit, performance and comfort are going to vary from person to person so ymmv and reviews of others arent really going to tell you much especially if the headset isn't fit on your head correctly.

I've had a pair of Zulu PFX's for about 4 years now. My average leg is about 1.5-3 hours with total flight time per day in the 3-6 hour range (often with only a quick turn at my destination) and I find they're still generally comfortable. Longest single day of flying has been about 12 hours broken up over 3x 4hour legs, I've done this twice. My stops have usually been only about 20-30 minutes with an extended stop of about an hour around the trip mid-point more for comfort of my legs and back than my head/ears.

I've had the opportunity to wear a pair of Bose A20's right after a pair of Zulus at Sun'n'Fun. Though the Zulu's are 2oz heavier, they felt lighter on the sides of my head than the Bose A20. I assume this is due to the center spring/fold mechanism the Bose A20 has and imagine after a few hours the Bose would have that pinching/pressure sensation even more than my Zulu's. Unfortunately, I only got to try them for about 10-15 minutes which wasn't really enough time to tell for sure.

I did like the noise cancelling of the A20's a little bit more than the Zulu's. It takes less batteries (2x compared to 4) and it sounded quieter compared to the PFX headset though its hard to say how cancelling of the crowd noise would differ from cancelling of engine noise since one is much louder and at wider range of frequencies to the other.

Ultimately, the noise cancelling function is going to vary from person to person due to differences in hearing and shape of the ear (my PFX's have a better noise cancellation in "custom/favorite" setting after mapping my ear)

Same goes for the feeling on a person's head. I've never had a complaint about my Zulu's, though I know well the pinching sensation from my DC-10's and the occasional ASA headsets and while I find the ASA ones uncomfortable immediately and rapidly getting worse due to the pinching sensation, I know a few people who prefer them to my DC10's (couldn't tell you why).

I'd also suggest before going out and spending $1000 on a new headset but especially if you do buy a new headset that you fit the headset in accordance with the instructions. When I first got my PFX, I did a quick fit and found them to be somewhat uncomfortable and noise cancelling to be of questionable value... After following the manual for fit and noise cancelling I found they were more comfortable and seemed to work better too.
 
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Fearless Tower said:
So, in preparation for our family Holiday trip out west in the Beech 18, my wife just informed me that she wants a new headset.

I currently have Bose X headsets for the pax in the Beast. I myself use a Clarity Aloft.

This was the first time she complained about the Bose X. I think her chief complaint was that she feels like the Bose pinches the top of her head. I use Bose X headsets in the Citation, and never noticed this, so not sure what the best option is as far as an upgrade?

For those that have flown with both, are Lightspeed's noticeably more comfortable than Bose?

Is the A20 a huge improvement of the X? Seems like the A20 has the same top-hinged head band.

Any other headsets I should consider? I don't think she'll want to do a Clarity Aloft in-ear style for 2 days of travel.
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The Lightspeeds will work better in that Beech 18.. The A20 will not handle any real noise plus they have the same top band she complains about. I have Sierra's, Wireless Tango's and PFX's available.
The Sierra and Tango seem to fit women and children better. I have done lots of testing in lots of different planes. The radials were a Pitts Model 12 and a Stearman. Even the cheap Sierra will stream music. I am sure your wife will love that after using the Bose X with no music ability. PM me if I can help...
 
I fly primarily with an A20 but I have a Zulu2 for the copilot and have used it a few times. They're both very good, from what I remember the Zulu2 felt a little softer/lighter on the ears but it's a really minor difference. If I was buying another headset I'd probably get the Zulus just because they're cheaper and equally good IMO but either one is a good choice.
 
pigpenracing said:
The Lightspeeds will work better in that Beech 18.. The A20 will not handle any real noise plus they have the same top band she complains about. I have Sierra's, Wireless Tango's and PFX's available.
The Sierra and Tango seem to fit women and children better. I have done lots of testing in lots of different planes. The radials were a Pitts Model 12 and a Stearman. Even the cheap Sierra will stream music. I am sure your wife will love that after using the Bose X with no music ability. PM me if I can help...
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Thank you for the Sierra headset by the way! It’s still not cheap per aviation wife amu, but she likes it so far.
 
I have a set of bose a20s and a set of zulu 3. They are both excellent headsets that work well. I like the bose slightly better because they are lighter with slightly less clamping. My wife really likes the zulu 3s compared to the old DC 10-30s she was using.

Today I decided to fly with my old DC 10-30s and found that not having ANC makes the flight too noisy for me. My old worn ears really don't like that low frequency rumble any more.
 
Are the Bose not adjustable such that she can reduce the pressure on her head? Even my antique DC 13.4’s can be made as loose or tight as I want.
 
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