Bose A20 aviation headset
Student88,
There are two Bose stores in NYC that carry the full line of consumer products, as well as the aviation headsets. I just called both, and was told the A20's should come in about two weeks (I'm considering dumping my brand new Zulu and switching to Bose, so I was curious). One is in SoHo (downtown NYC), and the other is in Columbus Circle (midtown). However, obviously you won't be able to test them side by side against other brands. The Bose stores in Manhattan NYC:
465 Broadway
New York, NY 10013
212-334-3710
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
212-823-9314
If you're looking for a pilot shop, the closest pilot shop to JFK is The Original Pilotshop, located about 20 minutes east of the airport. However, I don't believe they carry the Bose line at their store. There may be an FBO at Republic Airport (KFRG, about 45mins east of NYC) that carries them, or possibly at Westchester airport (KHPN, about 1hr north of NYC). After that, you could try at Linden Airport in NJ (KLDJ, about 45mins south of NYC).
There are two Bose stores in NYC that carry the full line of consumer products, as well as the aviation headsets. I just called both, and was told the A20's should come in about two weeks (I'm considering dumping my brand new Zulu and switching to Bose, so I was curious). One is in SoHo (downtown NYC), and the other is in Columbus Circle (midtown). However, obviously you won't be able to test them side by side against other brands. The Bose stores in Manhattan NYC:
465 Broadway
New York, NY 10013
212-334-3710
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
212-823-9314
If you're looking for a pilot shop, the closest pilot shop to JFK is The Original Pilotshop, located about 20 minutes east of the airport. However, I don't believe they carry the Bose line at their store. There may be an FBO at Republic Airport (KFRG, about 45mins east of NYC) that carries them, or possibly at Westchester airport (KHPN, about 1hr north of NYC). After that, you could try at Linden Airport in NJ (KLDJ, about 45mins south of NYC).
500e - the Zulu's have a real hard time when operating with a door removed and a lot of airflow in the cabin...my cheapo DC's do better. When flying FW, the Zulus are great... but the majority of time I spend in helicopters is with a door off. I've heard the Bose X's perform better in this situation, so I'm interested in trying out the A20s vs the Zulus for door-off work. Also, the Bluetooth in the Zulu's has some weird quirks... when it's turned on, there's a constant white noise in the background even when not on a phone call, and there's also no sidetone on the bluetooth when not hooked into an intercom. The Bose creates its own sidetone for bluetooth. Other than that, I really like the Zulu series.
Student88 - no problem!
Student88 - no problem!
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Bose A20
Bought a set from Harry Mendelssohn's the other day. Had my first flight today. The bluetooth works really well, made a phone call for bookout and to ring destination airfield before takeoff, wonderful, no aircraft noise and the other end could not believe I was in the aircraft. Made a call home from 2,000' and it worked no problem. You may have a problem with the phone trying to seek another mast as you progress along your track though. (Is it legal to do that or not?)
The microphone and speakers both work on bluetooth, so as long as the phone is paired with the headset, the headset does all the work. Perfect if you forgot to bookout and have to do it at the holding point!!
There was a slight leak in the door seal on the P2 side of the aircraft I was flying, the ANR had a problem with that, just a distant low wind noise, so constant wind noise from an open door or window is not good.
The new ear cups are slightly larger than the Bose X, so they fit me better, the ANR is better as well. Also less pressure on the ears. Definitely an improvement on the X. The carry case is a better design, takes up less space in the flight bag as well.
Got my X on eBay which i hope will offset the £920 cost of the A20.
No discount to be had on these, Bose fix the price for all dealers. Harry M. does free postage though.
Get one, you will not regret it.
The microphone and speakers both work on bluetooth, so as long as the phone is paired with the headset, the headset does all the work. Perfect if you forgot to bookout and have to do it at the holding point!!
There was a slight leak in the door seal on the P2 side of the aircraft I was flying, the ANR had a problem with that, just a distant low wind noise, so constant wind noise from an open door or window is not good.
The new ear cups are slightly larger than the Bose X, so they fit me better, the ANR is better as well. Also less pressure on the ears. Definitely an improvement on the X. The carry case is a better design, takes up less space in the flight bag as well.
Got my X on eBay which i hope will offset the £920 cost of the A20.
No discount to be had on these, Bose fix the price for all dealers. Harry M. does free postage though.
Get one, you will not regret it.
For me, the biggest failing of the X was the very poor passive noise attenuation. The comments that the clamping pressure with the new headset is much less makes me wonder if they have in fact made the passive protection even worsen with the A20?
Does anyone with an A20 want to fly with the ANR turned off and let us know how it performs?
Does anyone with an A20 want to fly with the ANR turned off and let us know how it performs?
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A20
Just replaced my X's with 20's today and I am impressed
-> comfort better
-> noise canceling better
-> wifi phone incredibly handy
Felt like I need to fine tune some personal ops because this changes the landscape. (for instance : wifi connection set up = extra startup item)
Still did not get all the headsets though because Bose could not deliver all of them...
Turning off ANR is implicit, cfr previous posts, you have in fact to "turn on" manually the headsets. You are without ANR just after powering up and before you turn them on. I got good sound from the TWR when running idle.
d3
-> comfort better
-> noise canceling better
-> wifi phone incredibly handy
Felt like I need to fine tune some personal ops because this changes the landscape. (for instance : wifi connection set up = extra startup item)
Still did not get all the headsets though because Bose could not deliver all of them...
Turning off ANR is implicit, cfr previous posts, you have in fact to "turn on" manually the headsets. You are without ANR just after powering up and before you turn them on. I got good sound from the TWR when running idle.
d3
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Anyone know if the A20 will have the option of both low and high impedance mics like the X used to do?
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Bose A20
I am well pleased with my Bose A20 headset. I have read in this forum that pilots(students) cannot hear the engine running away etc.
This is not a headset problem, this is a too much throttle setting when lighting the fire problem and not looking at panel for pressurre, temps and rpms.
I was taught to not put my headset on until immediately after engine start so that one would hear anyone screaming about some thing (dog) or someone approaching A/C, and this works for me in rural areas and also on a busy flight line in the metro area. I doubt I would have issue hearing even with headset on just havent tried it.
I however have no problem with hearing engine rpm while wearing the Bose A20 with or without ANR and this past Tuesday noticed, without looking, a 200 rpm increase during a taxi to the active.
I did slow flight-no problem hearing chirp of audible stall warning.
Power on stall- no problem hearing stall warning etc.
Power of stall- same, no problem hearing.
Conversation during PFL and securing A/C after shutdown without intercom- no problem hearing normal speech in passive mode.
I have used DC and some others since 1980 in high noise environs.
The Bose are considerably more comfortable, the DCs hurt my head and especially my ears.
Bluetooth works great and you can use them to listen to accessories whether you are plugged into panel or not. So far auto mute works well(used once)
This is not a headset problem, this is a too much throttle setting when lighting the fire problem and not looking at panel for pressurre, temps and rpms.
I was taught to not put my headset on until immediately after engine start so that one would hear anyone screaming about some thing (dog) or someone approaching A/C, and this works for me in rural areas and also on a busy flight line in the metro area. I doubt I would have issue hearing even with headset on just havent tried it.
I however have no problem with hearing engine rpm while wearing the Bose A20 with or without ANR and this past Tuesday noticed, without looking, a 200 rpm increase during a taxi to the active.
I did slow flight-no problem hearing chirp of audible stall warning.
Power on stall- no problem hearing stall warning etc.
Power of stall- same, no problem hearing.
Conversation during PFL and securing A/C after shutdown without intercom- no problem hearing normal speech in passive mode.
I have used DC and some others since 1980 in high noise environs.
The Bose are considerably more comfortable, the DCs hurt my head and especially my ears.
Bluetooth works great and you can use them to listen to accessories whether you are plugged into panel or not. So far auto mute works well(used once)
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wow... sounds a bit expensive to swap the entire mic/control box.. 
About the comparison Aviation X Vs old school Bose (10-56 in my case..) it was the opposite:
No problem at all with the big and heavy 10-56 (fitted with gel ear pads), but some problem because of the clamping force when I was using the Aviation X...
I have to say that my head is pretty big, so is not completely Bose's fault
Cheers
Daniel
About the comparison Aviation X Vs old school Bose (10-56 in my case..) it was the opposite:
No problem at all with the big and heavy 10-56 (fitted with gel ear pads), but some problem because of the clamping force when I was using the Aviation X...
I have to say that my head is pretty big, so is not completely Bose's fault
Cheers
Daniel
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Beware of warranty support
I bought an A20 and love the comfort and performance.
Unfortunately, the left ear piece was intermittent right out of the box.
I returned it to the retailer for exchange and was told they would have to send it back to Bose for "evaluation".
No timeline given.
So far, Bose has not responded to any of my inquiries.
Looks like I 'll have to buy a backup set and hope it works....out of the box.
Not impressed with the product support.
But, when they work....they are great.
Unfortunately, the left ear piece was intermittent right out of the box.
I returned it to the retailer for exchange and was told they would have to send it back to Bose for "evaluation".
No timeline given.
So far, Bose has not responded to any of my inquiries.
Looks like I 'll have to buy a backup set and hope it works....out of the box.
Not impressed with the product support.
But, when they work....they are great.
