Lightspeed Battery Box Warning

In rec.aviation.owning Sydney Hoeltzli wrote:
: wrote:
: I'm not really excited about buying any of the 15/20/25/30 K,XL,G
: series because they seems pretty flimsy, have extraordinarily lousy
: passive attenuation (read: LOUD out of active cancellation above 300 Hz),
: and artificually boost the radio's voice frequencies to an uncomfortable
: level. I'm sure the boosting is for "clarify" of old ears that are
: already fried from 40 years of naked flying, but I'm trying to keep mine
: good.

: Cory,

: I'm afraid I don't follow your critique of the K/XL/G series.
: The radio's voice frequencies can be adjusted to any level you
: like with the volume control. I have very good ears and the
: level is not uncomfortable, in fact it is too low on the
: minimum volume setting in our plane. If something was uncomfortable,
: and turning down the volume on the headsets didn't fix it, then
: perhaps the radio volume was turned up too high? We are able
: to combine most headsets in our plane and find suitable settings
: of intercom/radio/headset volume, but it does take a little
: tweaking when a new headset comes into the mix. I'm a little
: puzzled because surely you must have tried this.

What I meant was that it has an active filter in the mix that
boosts the voice frequencies from the radio/intercom. That range
(1kHz-3kHz or so) is what makes speech inteligible, and so they boosted it
to make the radios sound "clearer" and "easier to hear." For me, this
yields a harsher sound in those voice than a plain headset. I don't find
it necessary to artificially boost those frequencies for the radio to be
heard over the intercom. The level on the batt box simply adjusts the
gain, but doesn't adjust these boosted frequencies. While a bit
confusing, that's what I meant. It's not just a level thing.


: You're correct about the poorer Lightspeed passive attenuation.
: It's a direct function of the attraction for Lightspeed owners,
: the comfort. As you probably know, good passive attenuation in
: muff-style headsets is a function of ear seal, and ear seal is
: a function to some degree of clamping force.

Sure. That's why they're touted as very comforable (which they
are). Most GA planes are fairly well sound insulated at the frequencies
that are easy to insulate (1kHz). My plane with minimal internal sound
damping has lots of rattle inside, which makes it unusually noisy in the
1kHz-5kHz range... again the same frequencies that the LS-15/20/25/30
boosts. In fact, I saw a review that showed appreciable spill-over from
the LS headsets in that range. It's a side-effect of attenuating the
100Hz-300Hz range that it actually *boosts* the noise in the 1kHz range or
so. Not pleasant at full-power climbout.

: I don't find the K/XL/G series flimsy except at the poorly-
: designed plug/battery box configuration.

The telescoping action of each side has broken on two separate
friends' headsets. One 25XL, the other 15K.

However, if you do,
: I believe you would find the same to be true of the QFR series.
: My previous headset was a Flightcom Eclipse, regarded by many
: as flimsy, and it served me well so I think there's an issue
: of how gentle one is on equipment.

The battery box doesn't bother me all that much. In fact, I like
the XC-2 and 30G ability to plumb music right in to the headset. If it
truely is 28 dB passive without a vice-grip, then the 10 dB of active it
provides will help cut down the engine even a bit more.

: If you want good passive attenuation and sturdiness, perhaps
: you would prefer a set of Dave Clamps?

Kinda like buying a Sony VCR. It's still built by the lowest
Korean/Japanese/Philpines/Chinese bidder, but stick a name on it and
charge 2x the price. It's rather ridiculous that aviation headsets cost
so much. Even if DC or Bose is slightly better, it certainly isn't worth
the shameless gouging in price.

FWIW
-Cory


--
************************************************** ***********************
* The prime directive of Linux: *
* - learn what you don't know, *
* - teach what you do. *
* (Just my 20 USm$) *
************************************************** ***********************

wrote:

Slightly off topic, but I was wondering if anyone's got any
thoughts on Lightspeed's Solo and Cross-country headsets. Different form
factor, and not as active. They seem pretty flimsy by the pictures, but
the passive on the X-C (along with mild active) seems like a winner to me.
Anyone used these?

I currently have the Cross Country. I had an original 20K, then the
25XL. The Cross Country is better in all respects except one. It does
not have the auto shutoff feature. It is much more comfortable, it is
quieter and best of all it is not bulky like the ones with that god
awful big foam ear seal and head band pad. The big foam ones always
felt a little flimsy to me, the Cross Country is put together a lot
better.

: I currently have the Cross Country. I had an original 20K, then the
: 25XL. The Cross Country is better in all respects except one. It does
: not have the auto shutoff feature. It is much more comfortable, it is

The XC-2 does have that, I believe. If I try to get a new one,
that's probably what I'd do.

: quieter and best of all it is not bulky like the ones with that god
: awful big foam ear seal and head band pad. The big foam ones always
: felt a little flimsy to me, the Cross Country is put together a lot
: better.

It looks (from the pictures) that the little wires that hold the
earpieces to the headband seem flimsy. Not true?

Thanks,
-Cory

--
************************************************** ***********************
* The prime directive of Linux: *
* - learn what you don't know, *
* - teach what you do. *
* (Just my 20 USm$) *
************************************************** ***********************

wrote:

It looks (from the pictures) that the little wires that hold the
earpieces to the headband seem flimsy. Not true?

Nope, they are great. Plenty strong.

Newps wrote:

I currently have the Cross Country. I had an original 20K, then the
25XL.

What happened to the 20K and the 25XL?

Cheers,
Sydney

Sydney Hoeltzli wrote:

Just a follow-up: to Lightspeed's credit, having called
them after 4 pm yesterday, I already have the replacement
headset in hand before 10 am today.

So they definately try to make good when there's a problem.

I just wish they built a headset with fewer problems!!!!

So do I. Their commitment to making good is impressive. Every time my
old Lightspeeds were sent in for repair, they came back with amazing
speed. Unfortunately, the quality control is simply not there.

There are customers out there who have no problems with Lightspeed
products. I have no doubt about that. There are also many who seem to
have nothing but problems. Lightspeed's 15, 20, and 25 series is the
only line of headsets I've ever seen removed from the stock of one of
the largest pilot shops in the United States. I know the explicit
reason for this because said pilot shop is in my home FBO, and I know
the pilot shop manager. Reason for removal: too many returns. The shop
has (had?) a commendable policy of handling the shipping costs on any
defective units sold via their shop. Whenever I had a problem, I'd stop
in and drop off the headset and say "Bernie, send 'em in again." I
personally utilized this service approximately 8 times on two separate
Lightspeed 25XL headsets before the shop offered to take them back
permanently and apply the new purchase price towards two pair of Bose
Xs. I accepted their offer and have been extremely happy with the Bose
X for the last two years. One pair went back one time for the sheepskin
headband coming loose, and... that was it. Bose repaired the headset
free, as expected. (BTW, yes, the Bose X are good enough to be worthy
of the 4-digit price tag. I would *never* have bought them under
different circumstances, but it's clear to me now that they are indeed
worth it!)

I can see the perspective of happy Lightspeed customers who appear to
have essentially lucked out with a good pair. I say, good for them, and
they have no reason to do anything differently. When the product
doesn't break, it's damn good. The price is right, it's comfortable,
and the ANR is good enough for the money. But I think we have to be
realistic and recognize that Lightspeed does have a problem on their
hands here. You just don't hear these complaints about other headsets
in this (and in many cases, below!) price range. For these issues to
come up consistently, there has to be a problem. It's not isolated to a
few bad headsets.

-Ryan
CFI-ASE-AME, CFI-RH, CP-ASMEL-IA, CP-RH, AGI

Ryan Ferguson wrote:
Sydney Hoeltzli wrote:
Just a follow-up: to Lightspeed's credit, having called
them after 4 pm yesterday, I already have the replacement
headset in hand before 10 am today.

So they definately try to make good when there's a problem.

I just wish they built a headset with fewer problems!!!!

So do I. Their commitment to making good is impressive. Every time my
old Lightspeeds were sent in for repair, they came back with amazing
speed. Unfortunately, the quality control is simply not there.

Yep. I think that sums it up.

Cheers,
Sydney

In a previous article, "Steve House" said:
Right - the accusation that I'm an idiot is "demonstrating expertise" Just

Jim never called you an idiot. I don't think anybody did until now. But
*now* I'm going to to call you an idiot, because you obviously are one.

human interaction are somehow suspended. I'm an old hand at the Net and
Usenet, having used it daily since about 1980. I'm also a very new student

Bull****. Nobody who was using Usenet in 1980 does TOFU posting. Up
until the never ending September of 1993, anybody who didn't learn to trim
their quoted text would have been hounded off of any reasonable newsgroup.

correction where it was in error. I suppose we egg's should just sit
silently in rapturous awe at the feet of the Masters. Thanks for making me

No, people who make wrong statements should take correction without
accusing the person making the corrections of being arrogant.

feel so very welcome to the group.

You're not welcome to the group. People who can accept correction are.
So are people who don't lie about their qualifications.


--
Paul Tomblin , not speaking for anybody
There is no substitute for good manners, except, perhaps, fast reflexes.

Where precisly did I lie about my online experience? You assume, because for
some strange reason you abhore the readiblity of a continuous block of text
and prefer to find and reassemble brief fragments interspersed within the
replied-to message's text in an attempt to come up with a cohesive premise
and discussion, that anyone who top-posts simply MUST be an online/Internet
newby. I assure you that is not the case. Complete paragraphs, with an
opening sentence, discussion, and closing, is far preferable to snipits of
phrase and isolated sentences. Some would argue that the ability to review
a conversation thread by simply scrolling and seeing each message in its
entirety in reverse order far outways the cost few microseconds of broadband
transfer time - the idea that top-posting is an evil came about to save
bytes in the days when 2400 baud modems were considered high speed data
transfers and it should be relegated to the same museum where you find the
hardware that gave rise to it.

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, "Steve House"
said:
Right - the accusation that I'm an idiot is "demonstrating expertise"
Just

Jim never called you an idiot. I don't think anybody did until now. But
*now* I'm going to to call you an idiot, because you obviously are one.

human interaction are somehow suspended. I'm an old hand at the Net and
Usenet, having used it daily since about 1980. I'm also a very new
student

Bull****. Nobody who was using Usenet in 1980 does TOFU posting. Up
until the never ending September of 1993, anybody who didn't learn to trim
their quoted text would have been hounded off of any reasonable newsgroup.

correction where it was in error. I suppose we egg's should just sit
silently in rapturous awe at the feet of the Masters. Thanks for making
me

No, people who make wrong statements should take correction without
accusing the person making the corrections of being arrogant.

feel so very welcome to the group.

You're not welcome to the group. People who can accept correction are.
So are people who don't lie about their qualifications.


--
Paul Tomblin , not speaking for anybody
There is no substitute for good manners, except, perhaps, fast reflexes.

"SteveH" wrote in message ...
I assure you that is not the case.

No, you're just an insensitive nonconformist.

Complete paragraphs, with an
opening sentence, discussion, and closing, is far preferable to snipits of
phrase and isolated sentences.

Fine, that still doesn't explain why you don't trim off the needless included
text from the previous posters. If you're going to write your own book,
there's no reason to include everything. Most people have news article
retentions of a couple of weeks at least.