Headset longevity
 

My Lightspeed Sierra has just broken after 1500 hours and 5 years. It's snapped where the left earpiece swivels on the headband attachment. It generally looks pretty battered with scuffed earpieces and headband, the mic boom is seriously frayed and the cable is split in several places. I guess it doesn't owe me anything. It's had a hard life, being constantly used in different aircraft and chucked about quite a bit. However, unlike its predecessor, a David Clark X11, it has worked just fine right up to the point of physical failure. The x11 was pretty horrible, I only kept using it 'cos I'd spent so much on it. I was pleased when it snapped in two across the headband and it went in the bin without a second thought.

Now, please advise what to replace the Sierra with? I want something that has:
a) ANR
b) VERY lightweight but still reasonable passive noise reduction for when the batteries fail mid-flight
c) Bluetooth for the phone
d) excellent audio quality
e) compatible with a wide variety of aircraft intercoms and other headsets
f) can withstand being chucked about

Someone lent me a Bose A20 recently and I wish they hadn't as it was head and shoulders above anything else I'd ever used. However, I can't afford/justify the expenditure on instructor's money. I might think about it if anyone can assure me it will exceed the life of the Sierra. Has anyone gone beyond 1500 hours of typical instructor use?
The SEHT Bose look-alike looks tempting at £700 but is it durable? It seems to lack Bluetooth which is a bit of a downer.
Any helpful suggestions?

Thanks,
TOO

Lightspeed service will repair your headset, they may charge you for wear items such as earpads etc.

Zulu 3, but put it back in the case at the end of each flight. I've had a Zulu 1 since the year they were released (12 years ago?) and a Zulu 2 for around 10 years. Both still surviving full club use. Lightspeed service is spectacular...............

Zulu 1's for the last 10years. Still perfect condition,changed ear seals a couple of times thats all.

I still use the original David Clarke I bought in 1981. I have upgraded the old carbon mic to an electret one and replaced the ear seals a couple of times but it still works fine.

I still use my 40yo DC H10-40s in any prop plane I fly,
and Telex 810 noise cancelling in jets. My DCs have survived my 36yrs bush and city work. Tropics, desert, North Sea areas.

My DC H10-13X has 11 years and some 1200 hours of use on it and is still going strong. Doesn't tick the box for (c) in your list but it will provide good passive noise reduction without batteries and therefore ticks that half of the (b) requirement.

An ANR module failed in my DC 10-13X last year after about 5 years use. Whilst it was away being repaired I tried a Bose A-20 & ended up buying a set, I could not go back & the repaired (FOC) DC's are now used by my students. As an instructor I received a 100Euro discount under Bose's 'Profession Pilot Appreciation program', applied for through Bose's European website and honoured by Pooleys, it may be worth asking if it is still available TOO.

Yes, I nearly filled in the form but I was put off comments above re robustness. I thought I'd give SEHT's Bose look-alike a go as they offer a 'no quibble' 5-year guarantee and I like the company. I met the guy at a show at Telford a couple of years ago and thought he was pretty straightforward and had some spares I needed at good value for money. We'll see!

Thanks for all the comments
TOO

Surprised you needed to send it back for this. I managed to wreck one of the plugs by closing it in the canopy on one my several failed attempts to fly an Extra 300. They just sent me a new cable, which is fitted by opening up the battery box. Since it was still under warranty, they didn't even charge me.

My H10-40 headset like Triggers broom, had it since 1987, one new mic and got through two lots of springy head band and cables. Also several ear seals. They have done 15k hours.
One thing i do hate, gel ear seals only seem to last 18 months before they burst and in warm weather they keep falling off.

One of my students had a Bose ANR bought for her. She used it only once as she said she couldn't hear the engine when landing and put her of the set.

Plus One for the David Clark One X

I have done over 7,000hrs on my A20s and I did around 4,000hrs on the Bose-X before them. Superb headsets, never missed a beat. You only get your hearing once so don't buy cheap.

If you are wearing a headset all day long the bose is by far the most comfortable I have ever used. The Clarks are just purgatory after a few hours.

Not sure headsets protect hearing completely. The only way i think is to wear a bone dome. I'm sure the sound waves penetrate the skull and attack from the inside. I certainly have tinitus from wearing a H10-40 last 30 years. Not sure any extra hiss in the headset made any difference.