I find the Bose to be the best of the bunch that I have tried.
The Telex 50 has more passive reduction and is better in really noisy aircraft like an Aztec.But they tend to make you look like Mickey Mouse, that's how big they are.
I would never be able to justify to myself to shelf out $1000 for a headset.
Traded my Telex in that still had factory warranty and paid another $500 on top.
Now that I could live with....:E

Either there is a curious contrast between how much people are willing to spend on a headset and how much they are (presumably) spending on flying, or a lot of people on these forums rarely if ever do any flying ;)

There is another possibility, which is that a lot of people are not too bothered about whether they can hear ATC properly. Judging from what I hear on the radio fairly regularly :ugh: this is a plausible explanation too.

A really good headset is like a really good GPS. It will last you for many years, can be used in any plane that you will ever own or fly in, and will make a lot of difference.

IO540

The other possibility is we are paying a lot less for our 100 hours a year than you think! Very happy Bose owner.

Rod1

That is very true. If I was willing to sacrifice IFR capability, I would probably be flying something on a Permit too :)

as would I. But I won't!

RRP
 

If anyone knows a US company who will sell it below Bose's official $995 list price - please PM me!

VT

For anything it's worth, I bought the David Clarke X11 (yep, that's the expensive Automatic Noise Reduction set) bought from Florida, it does very well at reducing the low frequency stuff like the engine noise but does not seem to touch the high frequency stuff. This may be an advantage to people who are concerned that they may not hear the stall warning. I must warn you too that my basis is only with about three hours of use compared to the (excellent) David Clarke 13.4 set.

They are extremely comfortable though, and even more comfortable than the DC 13.4's (if that's possible). As a word of warning, my instuctor (Henry) wore his DC 13.4's in preference to a Sennheiser ANR set dues to comfort (he only wore the Sennheiser set on a 3hr night cross country dual when he plugged in his iPOD).

Having said all that I will not be going back to my David Clarke 13.4 (as good as they are - especially with the cloth covers) after the David Clarke X11's - any attenuation is a good investment in your own hearing. I hope one day to still hear the whispers of my wife next to me.

Ah,
T.

PS To put it into perspective though, how on earth can a headset cost the same as a leather sofa....