Are the Bose A20's worth the $$

RyanB

RyanB

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I plan to fly for the rest of my life, either as a hobbyist or professional, either way I would like to have a headset of my own so i dont have to use the flight schools passive sets everytime, even though they get the job done. Anyway the Bose A20's are my favorite with the zulu 2's as my second choice. Are these headsets worth the money? Do you all recommed someone to purchase their own headset that they can use for flying ahead? I just want to be sure these headsets are worth the money before i shell out $800+. Thanks!
 
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What's your hearing worth? I will tell you this, the noise cancelling on them is so good, i could hear my stepkids who were on an isolated ICS channel jabbering in the background over ATC when i was on a busy approach.
 
I have a set, I prefer them over my passengers headsets.
 
Love them. I am deaf in one ear so protecting the spare is critical for me.
 
The noise cancelling is amazing as others have said. However they still hurt my head after about an hour of wearing them. I love my Quite Technologies Halo's! You have to keep the ear buds changed to keep them performing to their max potential, but it's so freeing not to have something clamped over your ears.
 
I have and bought both new the A20's and Zulu.2's. I think the A20's are far superior in music quality but are not near as comfortable as the Zulu.2's. I choose to wear the Zulu.2's 99.999% of the time.

But, yes. Get a good headset. it makes a world of difference!
 
They're absolutely worth it. I sprung for a pair on eBay for about $840 a couple of months ago. Even as a student, I think they're worth it and make flying so much more comfortable. I waited a couple of years but I decided I don't want to play with my hearing. I'm a musician who plays in loud environments and that's already enough.

If you stop using them or don't like them, you can sell them for close to what you paid.
 
Yeah, thats a good point, i definetly need to protect my hearing. Ive also been looking at the bose X's. Ive found a mint condition pair for 500 on ebay. Any Pireps on these?
 
ANR technology is a must for our noisy bugmashers to protect our hearing.

I've only worn A20's for a short period when borrowed from another pilot. Sound quality is great, but I prefer the fit of my LS Zulu.2's. And that's a very personal "this works for me" statement.

Now recently I purchased a pair of LS PFX's (the same day and shop as Jay got his). Oh My God! These are the ever loving black hole of quiet!!! When the intercom circuit is open, it's nominally quieter than the .2's, but when everyone shuts up and the intercom goes away, it literally sucks up all the noise and it's "college library deep within the abandoned stacks" quiet. And very comfortable to wear too.

So, back to the original question, are the A20's worth the dollars? Yes, they can be and are. Is there something better? Up to you to determine, but for me, my PFX's are amazing.
 
I have a pair and they are definitely worth the money. It makes flying even more enjoyable when you don't have that extra noise bothering you.
 
In comparing Bose A20's at $1200 to Lightspeed Zulu.2's a $800, I decided they weren't, and bought the Lightspeeds, but fly them before you buy them because YMMV.
 
As someone who has never tried them, I find it hard to believe they can be so much better, and at TEN times the cost, of my cheap POS Rugged's. At no point of any flight do I feel like it's loud enough under my headset to the point where I'd want to spend over a freakin grand on a headset. BUT, like I said, I never tried em lol.
 
I've had a pair of David Clarks during training. Went with the BOSE and LOVE em. Way better. Have 4 pairs sitting in my plane. Only downfall is you can't bluetooth music - but I hear there is an app.. but dont know what it is.

get em - I am sure Bose has a return policy if you don't like
 
I've got the "over" on the hamburger bet that this thread gets 35 posts or more before we hear from our headset guy in Austin....
 
olasek said:
And that's the key. Conversation like this reminds me of frequent questions on a wine forum if say a $150 bottle of wine is "worth it".
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It was "worth it" to me, but the value one places on a product is definitely different than the value another places on it. Try them, try the competition and decide which provides the best value for the dollar. $1200 is quite a few hours worth of Avgas
 
rbridges said:
How do the a20 compare to the older bose X as far as the noise cancelling is concerned?
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I've never worn the newer A20s but I had a pair of the Xs that replaced a pair of ANC Peltors and a pair of plain ol' DCs.

I gave one Peltor away, use the other on my Jon boat and wear the DCs when weed wacking. Then I got a 2nd pair of Bose Xs when I finished my RV10 because I wanted plane powered headsets for the front seats. I love my Bose!
eman1200 said:
As someone who has never tried them, I find it hard to believe they can be so much better, and at TEN times the cost, of my cheap POS Rugged's. At no point of any flight do I feel like it's loud enough under my headset to the point where I'd want to spend over a freakin grand on a headset. BUT, like I said, I never tried em lol.
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Don't, unless you want to be out a freakin' grand.

Seriously, ANR is an advance almost as game changing as headsets are over cabin speakers (I learned to fly with cabin speakers!!!). ANR is better than non-ANR, Bose ANR is better than most but not that much more.

If you decide to go ANR, try some different brands and you can probably find a set thats good for you and save some money. If you don't want to shop, just get a pair of Bose and know you are getting a great ANR set.

My experience is that Bose produces superior audio products across the board. They charge a premium but they do deliver the goods.
 
Bill Watson said:
....Don't, unless you want to be out a freakin' grand.



Seriously, ANR is an advance almost as game changing as headsets are over cabin speakers (I learned to fly with cabin speakers!!!). ANR is better than non-ANR, Bose ANR is better than most but not that much more.



If you decide to go ANR, try some different brands and you can probably find a set thats good for you and save some money. If you don't want to shop, just get a pair of Bose and know you are getting a great ANR set.



My experience is that Bose produces superior audio products across the board. They charge a premium but they do deliver the goods.
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Lemme ask this.....can the best Bose (or other) headset make the crappy radios in the planes I fly sound better?
 
eman1200 said:
As someone who has never tried them, I find it hard to believe they can be so much better, and at TEN times the cost, of my cheap POS Rugged's. At no point of any flight do I feel like it's loud enough under my headset to the point where I'd want to spend over a freakin grand on a headset. BUT, like I said, I never tried em lol.
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Lol same situation here, just thinking about it.
 
THEY DO NOT WORK IN LOUD AIRPLANES!
My aerobatic planes make them buzz, pop and crackle. I called Bose and they said they were not designed for loud aircraft. Ok so I need a $1,100 headset to fly a quiet airplane. My opinion is they are useless. Hell you can't even stream music wireless.
 
eman1200 said:
As someone who has never tried them, I find it hard to believe they can be so much better, and at TEN times the cost, of my cheap POS Rugged's. At no point of any flight do I feel like it's loud enough under my headset to the point where I'd want to spend over a freakin grand on a headset. BUT, like I said, I never tried em lol.
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You said it. And if you keep using cheap headsets, eventually you won't be able to hear anyone else say it, either. I dearly wish there'd been ANR headsets back when I was giving 100 hours a month of flight training in C-150's -- I might have a lot better hearing today. I'm not saying you have to spend $1200 for your headset, but you'd be penny-wise and pound-foolish not to spend the $400 or so minimum for a good ANR unit, and there's tons of research to back that up.
 
Ron Levy said:
You said it. And if you keep using cheap headsets, eventually you won't be able to hear anyone else say it, either. I dearly wish there'd been ANR headsets back when I was giving 100 hours a month of flight training in C-150's -- I might have a lot better hearing today. I'm not saying you have to spend $1200 for your headset, but you'd be penny-wise and pound-foolish not to spend the $400 or so minimum for a good ANR unit, and there's tons of research to back that up.
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I'm not arguing against them or against 'hearing protection', I'm just saying when the car stereo is loud, I turn it down, when my work headset is loud, I turn it down, but when I'm in the plane I haven't ever noticed it being "loud". I mean, I hear the engine and 'noise', but I've never said "dayum it's loud up in here". maybe bose should send me a sample to try, you know, convince me I should own them. :wink2:

oh, lastly, there's an archer for sale here that's about $40k. when I think about the bose headsets, I think they are about 1/40th the price of the entire freakin plane. tough to think about it in those terms.
 
pigpenracing said:
THEY DO NOT WORK IN LOUD AIRPLANES!
My aerobatic planes make them buzz, pop and crackle. I called Bose and they said they were not designed for loud aircraft. Ok so I need a $1,100 headset to fly a quiet airplane. My opinion is they are useless. Hell you can't even stream music wireless.
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I've been relying on my audio panel to provide music formed wired in sources, BT phone (Garmin then an exp PS). That way I get muting.
eman1200 said:
Lemme ask this.....can the best Bose (or other) headset make the crappy radios in the planes I fly sound better?
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Crappy radios may sound incrementally less crappy perhaps.

One thing I was having trouble with was the auto squelching on my PS panel. Vent air tended to trigger the squelch (static). The PS doc recommended muffs for the mics mic muffs but I ignored it for 3 years. Just bought 4 and they worked like a charm. MIGHT BE THE SOLUTION FOR AN OPEN OR LOUD COCKPIT.
 
eman1200 said:
I'm not arguing against them or against 'hearing protection', ... maybe bose should send me a sample to try, you know, convince me I should own them. :wink2:

oh, lastly, there's an archer for sale here that's about $40k. when I think about the bose headsets, I think they are about 1/40th the price of the entire freakin plane. tough to think about it in those terms.
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Well, here's your chance. Buy em, wear em, and then report back:

Risk-free trial – Shop confidently Try your Bose® product risk free. We're so confident you'll be delighted with it, we give you 30 days* to make sure it's right for you. If, for any reason, you're not satisfied with your purchase, simply return it within the trial period for a full refund.
*45 days for L1® systems. Occasionally, other products or promotions may extend the in-home trial period beyond 30 days.

I agree that ANR is a game changer. Guard your hearing jealously eman, the damage is cumulative. When you get to my age, you start noticing how often you ask people to repeat themselves. My first 40+ hours in a C150 were without headsets. :(
 
Ryanb said:
I plan to fly for the rest of my life, either as a hobbyist or professional, either way I would like to have a headset of my own so i dont have to use the flight schools passive sets everytime, even though they get the job done. Anyway the Bose A20's are my favorite with the zulu 2's as my second choice. Are these headsets worth the money? Do you all recommed someone to purchase their own headset that they can use for flying ahead? I just want to be sure these headsets are worth the money before i shell out $800+. Thanks!
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I'll sell you a pair of my Bose X ANR for 1/2 that and buy myself an A20. Yes they are expensive, and the Zulus are great too. But they are a good product, no question. I own two pair.
 
I don't have an A20 set and the reason is because about 8 years ago I purchased a Bose X set and there is no compelling reason to seek a replacement. Yes, they were $1k, I bought them on the ten month installment plan for $100/mo and they've been paid off for over seven years now.

If you can't stomach the price then by all means don't buy them but don't come around trying to tell everyone who has that they're nuts.
 
I'm shopping for a new pair as well. Have an eye on the pfx. Bought a pair of ANR headsets from squawk shoppe last Christmas. They are better than no ANR, but not library quiet the Zulu PFX has been reported to be.

Keep us posted on your findings.
 
My wife and I both use the Bose A20 and love them. they're so good, i often forget to turn on the ANR. Oh, but when i do, boy is it quiet.
 
I've been a Bose fan for many years, I bought a pair A20's, but haven't gotten to use them yet!:mad2: I've got 4 sets of Bose X's and I love them! I will be selling one pair now as I only use 4.:D
 
I have been doing a lot of research on headsets. In the market to replace my DC h10-13.4's. I was leaning towards the A20's till I came across the AKG AV100's. After reading the reviews, they seem to be about the same as the Bose but with better fitment. They say they don't clamp your head as bad and they have led lights built in. The sound is the same and so is the price. I am going to give them a try for 30 days and probably won't return them for my money back. You might want to check them out to.
 
sferguson524 said:
What's your hearing worth?
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What he said.

I have original first gen Zulus and they work phenomenally well in the Vans RVs, which are like flying inside a jackhammer noise-wise.

I plan on treating myself to a pair of the new Zulu PFX headsets as a Christmas present to myself.
 
Yes. Love them. IMO Same sound level as zulu2 but more comfortable for my head/ears.

No comparison even to upper end passive clamp headsets in sound reduction or comfort. A 5hr flight lead to no discomfort.

Edit, reviews are useless. Try them and pick the ones you like. Every one has lovers and haters.
 
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