Lightspeed Zulu.2 vs Bose A20
 

G'day all,

I've been contemplating buying a high end ANR headset for a while now, and hope to make the purchase in the next couple of weeks.

I've searched high and low for informative comparisions between the Zulu.2 and the A20, but haven't been able to find anything substantial.

There are several threads/articles comparing the A20 to the original Zulu, but not enough on the Zulu.2 to make a decision.

Zulu.2 = £678 Bose A20 = £945

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Have a look at the Sennheiser S1. I have found Sennheiser to be better than Bose or Lightspeed as they have better passive noise reduction before you switch on ANR, so the overall result is better. In addition they enhance incoming signals in a way that the others don't so reception is clearer. Whatever advice you take, try before you buy or at least take advantage of the return period (usually 30 days) if you are not completely happy. It's a lot of dosh! Price around £846 for the S1.

Used both. My preference is the Bose but it's not £280 better. If I was paying I'd go lightspeed.
I also notice a difference in different batteries. After a lot of experimenting I now buy duracell in bulk and they're pretty reasonably priced. Find they perform better than any rechargeables.

The three candidates - the Bose, Lightspeed and new Sennheiser - all set out to do the same job, but they feel different on your head. Earcup shape and size, headband shape and tension, and the way it sits, are noticeably different between the three.

They all work pretty well, so you should choose on fit and comfort. My own preference is the Lightspeed, but your head may vary....

Digging up an oldish thread, but i'm also looking at getting either the Bose or Zulus. I tried them both on at the local shop today, and was very impressed with them both. Both were very very comfortable, nothing between them. The quality of the Zulu's did look a bit better than the Bose, which i think is really due to the Bose being a bit more plastic looking.

I wear glasses, and the bose seemed to provide a better seal around the ears with my glasses on, glasses off, they were both about the same.

I kept switching back and forth, hoping they would feel totally different, but they are very similar and also very light.

I'm still undecided, I will probably go the Bose due to them seeming to fit better with my glasses, but for the extra dosh, not really sure - if i didn't wear glasses it would definitely be the Zulus because they are significantly cheaper.

I will definitely try them on one more time before buying though.

I also tried the Sennheiser S1's on aswell, and they didn't feel as comfortable as the Bose or Zulus - their cushioning wasn't as soft and as a result felt firm on the head.

On attenuation, the A20 beats the lot by a big margin.

Glasses are always a problem. The resulting gap lets a lot of noise in. I wear mine so the side frames are above the earcups - looks a bit weird but works.

I've used both and for the price, the original Zulu (which I have) is hard to beat, even after a 9-10 hour day in the 185 or Twin Otter (both fairly noisey airplanes). Given the price delta between the original Zulu and the A20, price becomes a significant data point.

Sennheiser S1
 

I disagree firmly. The Sennheiser definitely does not out perform the lightspeed zulus regarding noise cancellation! I was up flying today and
my friend who was with me has the zulu 2 and me the Sennheiser S1 so we switched during flight. The zulus were so much quieter even upon using the smart update button on the Sennheiser. I will be returning mine tomorrow but I am going to go for the Bose A20 to trial for the 30 days. I hope they outperfom the lightspeed but if not, obviously the lightspeed zulus will be a clear winner!!

Daniel, what aircraft did you fly? Would be great if people could post what aircraft they used. It's such a difference to compare noise canceling in a brand new C172, DA42 etc to an old noisy Turbo Prop like J32/J41/SF34/Dash8-1-300...

I tried all three. Without glasses the Bose was the best, with, the Bose win by a mile. Had my Bose A20 ( without bluetooth ) for about a month now and very happy.

Rod1

I've owned a Zulu 1 for some years and recently performed a rather extensive test with loaned headsets: A20, Zulu 2, Sennheiser S1. Here's my view:

Zulu:
+ good active attenuation
+ good bluetooth support for music and telephony
+ good sound quality for stereo music
+ great support with excellent turnaround time for repairs (Germany rep)
- terrible passive attenuation (drained battery)
- poor reliability and quality, PCB was replaced twice and several plastic parts broke, the original volume controls are subject to wear out and corrosion. A lot of cheap China made stuff but apparently that is better with the Zulu 2.
- uncomfortable with certain type of glasses

Sennheiser:
+ good active attenuation
+ good passive attenuation
+ great bluetooth
+ great comfort level with glasses
- huge and heavy

Bose:
+ great active attenuation (the best I found)
+ good comfort level, also with glasses
+ very compact and lightweight
- bad passive attenuation
- ugly "pubic hair" pad
- completely stupid bluetooth support, only does phones which is almost useless unless on the ground, no support for pairing music players

After a lot of tinkering, I went for the A20 without bluetooth. It was a tough call but eventually the Sennheiser's weight made me go for the Bose.

Something interesting that the Bose reps told me: their attenuation circuit is analog whereas the Sennheiser use a digital circuit, i.e. they digitize the voice signals, process them and convert them to analog again and according to Bose this induces a delay which makes the processing less effective than their analog circuit. I am not expert enough to judge this argument.

I have the Sennheiser S1 and I'm very happy with them. Sennheiser's pedigree in the audio world is second to none.

ANR headsets
 

I use the A20 (sans Bluetooth) and although I agree they are pricey, I'm absolutely delighted with them. Flying a 172SP with glasses, I find the noise reduction and comfort excellent.

Can't directly compare them against the Zulu's or Sennheisers, but I do agree that Sennheiser generally make excellent audio kit. I have a pair of their ANR headphones I use on long flights as self-loading freight.

Rats404

A lot of thumbs-up for the Bose A20s here, even though they are the most expensive.
How much of an improvement are the A20s over the Bose X? On EBay here in the UK, Bose X's seems to go for around the £400 mark, whilst a new set of A20's are £885 (without bluetooth).

Is the difference worth over twice as much?

Zulus on the j32. Awesome headsets that have lasted the time. The passive is not so good however. Their service is personal and out standing.

For me best bang for the Buck.

That Q cannot be answered as it is an individual thing, but I now have 2 x A20 and 2 x X, have been flying with the Xs for 10 years and with the A20s for 6-12 months, and the A20s are very noticeably better than the Xs.

When I first flew with the A20 I was a bit worried that the engine did not sound like it was making much power :) So I checked the gauges etc... all was fine.

The A20 really is the best headset out there.

The price is just silly. Bose are minting it of course. You can buy them in the USA for less but not by the time you pay VAT and shipping etc.

Small anecdote from my PPL training. I started with a Zulu, it was my first headset. During my first cross country solo, the batteries ran empty. Being very much under stress, I did not notice the warning signal so suddenly the electronics went off and everything sounded much louder and very different. In that moment, I was fully convinced that the engine is broken and I am going to crash. I had never before experienced the sound of the airplane without my ANC headset.

With the poor passive audio of the Zulu, I had a very hard time communicating with ATC (home base EDDS is very busy with a control zone). Of course I was prepared and had fresh batteries but changing them during my first real solo flight in a Cessna 150 without autopilot was beyond my abilities.

Luckily I knew about the aviate-navigate-fiddle-with-headset rule. Would have been interesting to know if the authorities would have determined the reason in their crash investigation :)

“How much of an improvement are the A20s over the Bose X? On EBay here in the UK, Bose X's seems to go for around the £400 mark”

My Bose X are up for sale - £400 with case box etc. Not as good as the 20 but still a good set.

Rod1

I know there is a lot on here about headsets and which is the best but having flown a few GA types people seem to be getting a bit carried away over the requirement for buying the most expensive headset out there. If you are flying a standard light single (cessna or piper) for up to say 50 hours a year, then why spend £600+ on a headset? If you are a commercial pilot flying something noisy then fair enough but how is it that Bose get away with charging so much and not actually advertising their headsets NRR? If you are choosing a headset that has little passive attenuation with the electrics turned off then you are asking for trouble IMHO. The sennheiser is fine when the batteries go. I use a sennheiser in a 300 hp cessna with no problems when the batteries go flat, I know the bose has a long life (assuming the aircraft is not too noisy) but they always go flat at the most inconvenient time.
For what it is worth I know someone with over 8000 hours on piston Islanders who until not long ago had peltor 8006's at best and still passes his audiogram without problem.

You need quite a lot of hearing damage to fail the audiogram due to long term hearing damage. You will have problems with conversation in normal social settings before then.

But an equally important thing is to be able to hear ATC and passengers clearly, and the best headsets do that best.

If you fly 50hrs a year then you spend at least £5000 a year on flying. Let's say you plan to fly for 20 years. The cost of a decent headset is insignificant.