Which intercom to buy

[aldee]

We're looking at fitting an intercom to a Maule M5-235c and as nearly every aircraft I've flown has a Sigtronics intercom fitted I naturally headed down that path and decided the SPA 400 would be the way to go.
Now I've been given some advice from an avionics engineer that maybe the Sigtronics setup has no shielding on its cabling causing potential for electrical interference / noise etc.
His recommendation is the PS Engineering PM 501,similar money if not a little more expensive, anyone have any experience with this system or views on intercoms in relatively noisy aircraft in general?

[Old Akro]

I'm skeptical that there will be any issue with the sigtronics. 2 points to consider; 1. Do you want to plug in the ipod & listen? 2. The cost of wiring / installation may significantly outweigh the cost of the intercomm. So, its worth getting the one you want. I understand that the recent advances have been in the auto squelch technology. You might want to consider upgrading the audio panel to a new one with intercomm (eg Garmin 340 or PS engineering PMA 7000.

If you want a recently removed SPA400, then PM me.

[185skywagon]

I have a garmin 340 audio panel. Very happy with it.
plenty of input options.

[aldee]

Thanks for your views fellas, updating the audio box hadn't occurred to me but that would be a tidy option, a bit more money than I'd budgeted on but thats aircraft ownership:eek:

[RichM]

I'm surprised to hear that many planes are not fitted with an intercom. Is this also the case with many airliners?