How to Buy a Headset for the Wife?

"Cockpit Colin" writes:

Lowest clamping force on the market is the Bose Aviation X - I guarantee
she'll LOVE them

Indeed. Don't screw around; keep her happy by buying a pair of Bose
for her. My wife has tried several and always comes back to the Bose
(despite her set getting screwed up for awhile during an upgrade).
http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0...g/image_viewer

--kyler

"T.Roger" writes:

Among audio professionals, anything "Bose" is derided for offering half the
sound at twice the price.

My wife often repeats the "no highs, no lows; must be Bose" saying from her
studio days. She still won't give up her Bose headset.

Fortunately she's smart enough to look beyond old sayings. ('course with
noise cancelling headsets "no highs and no lows" is a *good* thing.)

--kyler

Thomas,

Well, mine are in their 7th year and going strong.

I'm happy for you. However you don't offer any comparison to the type of use
and abuse that your headsets must withstand in reference to what I posted
about the headsets I use. I have a cheap pair of 69 dollar Sigtronics that
I got in the early 90's that still look and work like new. That's because
there in a closet never being used.

My point was specifically about how abused headsets get in a 'professional'
environment and I've been thru and seen many used by other operators, and
the DC consistently out perform the others for durability.

As I posted originally, if you or your passengers don't subject your
headsets to that kind of abuse, then you would probably be very happy with
some other brand.

Did the owner ask Lightspeed about repairs? Did they charge him? Didn't
think
so.

You thought wrong. The owner(s) did contact Lightspeed and were told they
were not under warranty and the cost to repair them was well into the price
of new headsets. As a matter of fact when I made reference to my
girlfriends set, (of headsets) I realized I was mistaken. They were not two
years old, but only one year. She received them as a Christmas gift and they
were broken by October. They spent the majority of their time in her flight
bag.

I like the Lightspeeds for comfort and audio quality, but as I said, my
experience has been they don't use the best materials in the manufacturing
process.

As for the Boise, they're much better made and with better quality materials
then the Lightspeed, but the darn mic keeps getting sloppy on so many
models.

I realize that I fly many more hours a year than most people, and because of
this and the type of environments I fly in and out of, me and my customers
are much harder on headsets than most people, but I just don't have any of
these issues with the Dave Clarks.

PJ

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

Minor Nit: Actually, it's cast magnesium, not titanium - magnesium is
even lighter still.

I've checked my facts and ...

.... stand corrected

"Thomas Borchert" wrote in message
...
Cockpit,

Some might find the following Bose -v- Lightspeed comparison of interest
....


keeping in mind, though, that LightSPEED has gone through 2 more
generations
of their products since then with significant changes, e.g. to the ANR.

Out of interest, Bose have also refined the Aviation X - I don't think
they've done anything to the ANR, but the mike boom no longer ratchets - now
uses 2x AA instead of 1x 9 volt (much smaller unit) - auto-off, and volume
controls that are easier to manipulate.

CC

One of the dynamics of purchasing cheaper headsets (or many other things in
life) is that a cheap headset doesn't necessarily mean you'll have
problems - but it increases the chances of getting one that will have
problems. High and Low quality items (say Bose -v- Lightspeed) are marketed
with differing dynamics. Bose will use more expensive parts and put more
into R & D - but it probably still doesn't cost them more than $50 per unit
(not counting R & D). Yes, they make a high margin, but that will be offset
by the fact that they don't sell as many of them. You'll probably find it
only costs $20 to make a Lightspeed headset - they still make a large
margin - and they sell many more because of the price - but profits are
reduced by the cost of the customer service. And the resulting reputation
sets their place in the market.

Two manufacturers taking two differing approaches to their marketing.

I'm always guided by the old saying "The memories of poor quality remain far
longer than those of the low price."

"PJ Hunt" wrote in message
...
Thomas,

Well, mine are in their 7th year and going strong.

I'm happy for you. However you don't offer any comparison to the type of
use
and abuse that your headsets must withstand in reference to what I posted
about the headsets I use. I have a cheap pair of 69 dollar Sigtronics
that
I got in the early 90's that still look and work like new. That's because
there in a closet never being used.

My point was specifically about how abused headsets get in a
'professional'
environment and I've been thru and seen many used by other operators, and
the DC consistently out perform the others for durability.

As I posted originally, if you or your passengers don't subject your
headsets to that kind of abuse, then you would probably be very happy with
some other brand.

Did the owner ask Lightspeed about repairs? Did they charge him? Didn't
think
so.

You thought wrong. The owner(s) did contact Lightspeed and were told they
were not under warranty and the cost to repair them was well into the
price
of new headsets. As a matter of fact when I made reference to my
girlfriends set, (of headsets) I realized I was mistaken. They were not
two
years old, but only one year. She received them as a Christmas gift and
they
were broken by October. They spent the majority of their time in her
flight
bag.

I like the Lightspeeds for comfort and audio quality, but as I said, my
experience has been they don't use the best materials in the manufacturing
process.

As for the Boise, they're much better made and with better quality
materials
then the Lightspeed, but the darn mic keeps getting sloppy on so many
models.

I realize that I fly many more hours a year than most people, and because
of
this and the type of environments I fly in and out of, me and my customers
are much harder on headsets than most people, but I just don't have any of
these issues with the Dave Clarks.

PJ

============================================
Here's to the duck who swam a lake and never lost a feather,
May sometime another year, we all be back together.
JJW
============================================

"Cockpit Colin" writes:

With the Boise, I tend to get a hot spot on top of my head after several
hours of wearing them.

This was an issue with the very early models - I believe that they have a
free upgrage kit available, if you're interested.

Long story...I put a patch of sheepskin (which came as a sample for seat
covers) on my wife's set after she complained about the "hot spot". It
solved the problem. I mentioned it to Bose. They rolled out the upgrade
(with a solution to my battery box complaint too). It impressed me.

--kyler

Cockpit Colin wrote:

..... Bose will use more expensive parts and put more
into R & D - but it probably still doesn't cost them more than $50 per
unit
(not counting R & D). Yes, they make a high margin, but that will be
offset
by the fact that they don't sell as many of them.

I have no clue whatsoever what it costs Lightspeed to manufacture their
headsets. However, having worked on the Bose X as a mechanical engineer
as they were being designed and released to manufacturing, I've got a
VERY good idea what the manufacturing costs of the Bose X are, and it's
nowhere NEAR $50. When they were released in early 1999, the
manufacturing cost (including amortization of tooling, which was to run
three years), was about $320/unit. Amortization of tooling was about
$30/unit. I would have to assume that in the intervening 5 years
there's been some cost reduction effort, but I'd be VERY surprised,
given how little the design has changes, if the manufacturing cost is
below $250/unit at this point.

And no, I no longer work there and get headsets cheap :-).

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://marc.zeitlin.home.comcast.net/
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2004

Have Bose in a company airplane. Purchased a Flightcom Denali for
myself for about $530. Less than an ounce heavier than the Bose and
clamping force about the same or less. I've been very satisfied and
consider them a great value for the price.


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Try adding gell ear seals and a good fluffy head pad to what you have
now and see if that makes a difference. I had the same problems when I
first started flying and eventually figured out that a good head pad and
gel ear seals alleviated pressure all around - much more than just
switching brands. The best head pad I have is the one that came built
in on my DC. However, the add on available from Avcom, fits on most
anything after you cut of the crummy rubber pad and does a good job as well.

If you do decide to get another headset, bear in mind that us women folk
have smaller heads than you men. Some headsets don't adjust small
enough for us.

Helen