Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
#1840987
My Zulu 2 were rock solid for almost ten years and well over a thousand hours, which works out at under £0.75/ hr.

I wouldn’t think one could expect much cheaper ANR/hr than that... and without compromising on quality too.



PS
They are still fine now, and would most likely still fetch a couple of hundred quid on eBay if I chose to sell them, but I decided to keep them in the ‘spare’ set role on acquisition of shiny new Zulu 3s a couple of years ago. :thumleft:
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1840989
My two sets of DC 13.4s are just over 20 years old and 15 years ago were ANRd by ANRman of this parish.

They are still going strong and the only consumable has been occasional replacement of the mic sock and battery ( I don’t use rechargeable and thanks to Keefs design mod of the introduction of ‘auto shut off’ circuitry the batteries last well.

They get no special treatment and are just shoved into my flight bag .

I don’t find the criticism levelled by some , that of excessive clamping to be a problem.

I guess cost per hour must be minute ...
Edit: If by 'ear muffs ' you mean the aftermarket white cotton comfort accessories to stop sweaty earholes, forget it : they wreck the ANR by sound leakage, get filthy dirty in days and block the pump in 'er indoors washing machine.........

The only thing I did when I bought my DCs new was to replace the foam filled ear seals with gel-filled ear seals: For all I know Gel may be standard now.
Last edited by PeteSpencer on Sat Apr 24, 2021 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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#1840993
As others have said..Zulu's just last very well !
Mine are now 12years old, they have had the ear socks replaced a few times, but thats all and I see no reason to replace them.
I would definitely buy Lightspeed Zulu's again if I needed to. I can't see me buying 'El cheapo' variety of headset.
I have found in life generally, that you usually get what you pay for.....
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1841088
Shoestring Flyer wrote:I have found in life generally, that you usually get what you pay for.....


But it isn't linear, there's also the case of diminishing returns. It's the same with hifi.

You can probably get an ANR headset which works for £200. However if you spend either £200+headset (converted ones) or £385 (SEHT 75s) then you get something pretty darn good, maybe about 40% better than the £200 ones.

Then you go up to Bose and Lightspeed. You may get the dog's whatsits of comfort and noise reduction, maybe 20% better again in terms of noise reduction, but you pay double the above, or 5x the £200 set.

Someone asked on Facebook, "Is it worth paying lots of money for the Bose A20?"

I answered that only the purchaser could know what a grand means to them, and no one else could say whether they would be "worth it". I justified my purchase of them as 1) I got them second hand, and 2) I sold some pairs of Bose X which I fixed and refurbished and thus earmarked the money as "headset money".
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#1841090
Paul_Sengupta wrote:
Shoestring Flyer wrote:I have found in life generally, that you usually get what you pay for.....
...Someone asked on Facebook, "Is it worth paying lots of money for the Bose?"...1) I got them second hand, and 2) I sold some ...{paraphrase - 'used for'} "headset money".
I flew to Lands End on Friday, with the A20s, the trip cost ~£500, the Bose are great. I would have been just as happy with the Raytalk ANRs (I have a pair, they're only 80% as good as the A20s, but only 20% of the cost).
If you haven't got the £1,000, take the Raytalk. When you do have the £1,000, the Raytalk will be a great passenger headset.
I don't agree with the logic of 'Lightspeed is almost as good'. Get the best, or get what's good enough 'till you can get the best.
I have an A20, Bose X, ANRman 13.4 (great set! I always carry it as my spare/passenger set) and a Raytalk ANR. The Raytalk is SO CHEAP and SUCH GOOD VALUE, it baffles me why anyone would compromise on something that costs 4* as much but isn't an A20.
But, your money, your choice - I hope that helps
#1841092
townleyc wrote:Why not ask Bossman to do a review?
KE
Or give me a Lightspeed and a SEHT, (I have the rest) and I can give you an unbiased opinion.
OR, give me the above and 3 more A20s and I can give you a biased opinion...
#1841132
I am sure these El cheapo headsets work great when you first buy them and you then think they are the dogs whatsits.
Doing a comparison in Flyer mag also proves very little with both tested headsets being brand new and working as intended!
It is what they are like after 5years of use that is the important that thing needs to be taken into consideration. How will they fair in regular use?
Will they still work as efficiently after 5yerars as they did when they were new?.
Will they break or fall to bits?...or more importantly if they do break will you be able to get the parts?
Can you still buy replacement ear muffs for them after this time?
Can you still get them repaired or serviced?

Buy a quality pair if you can is my view....
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1841144
Shoestring Flyer wrote:It is what they are like after 5years of use that is the important that thing needs to be taken into consideration. How will they fair in regular use?


I don't see why it should be an issue. Most of them are based on the DC format headsets which are fairly robust.

Shoestring Flyer wrote:Will they still work as efficiently after 5yerars as they did when they were new?


Sure, why not? Modern electronics don't "lose efficiency", though they may stop working. Which ones have you had issues with?

Shoestring Flyer wrote:Will they break or fall to bits?...or more importantly if they do break will you be able to get the parts?


They might break. But DC-a-like parts are ubiquitous. The ANR probably not. Though the Headsets Inc conversion kits are the same as they were 15-20 years ago and still available.

Shoestring Flyer wrote:Can you still buy replacement ear muffs for them after this time?


DC type earseals are ubiquitous.

Shoestring Flyer wrote:Can you still get them repaired or serviced?


Probably not if the ANR goes out. But then you can't get a Bose X serviced either, and they're much more likely to break, at least hardware wise. Though some people are now selling 3D printed aftermarket parts for them.

Shoestring Flyer wrote:Buy a quality pair if you can is my view....


How cheap are you talking about though and which do you term "quality" and in what sense of quality? Do you consider a robust DC like ANR set for £385 better quality than a plastic Bose A20 which would break if you sat on it? Or do you consider it the other way round?
#1841157
We could debate the definition of 'quality' all day long. :)

I personally though would not consider a Bose headset.
They seem to break too easily for my liking and Bose aftersales service, on this side of the pond, from what friends tell me and have experienced is not good!
Lightspeed sevice is much better and they will help even if your Zulus are umpteen years old!
#1841186
Well, I’ve ordered the SEHT 40-80 on condition that I can try it in the air before I decide whether to keep it; I’ll let you know though I’m not now going to be able to fly for a couple of weeks.

I don’t consider £600+ to be ‘el cheapo’, though. I am concerned about support life - as the owner of a lovely PNR Sennheiser headset which is now unsupported.
By Boxkite
#1842542
lobstaboy wrote:
Rob P wrote:
Boxkite wrote: and was astonished at how bad and sharp the audio was when listening to music.


I'd suggest that might be a positive for listening to ATC

Rob P


and anyway, why on earth would you listen to music when flying?

Because it was at Friedrichshafen and it was all that was available for demo :roll:
I'd suggest reading the whole of the original sentence that had been selectively quoted 2 years ago.
#1842599
Boxkite wrote:I'd suggest reading the whole of the original sentence that had been selectively quoted 2 years ago.


:) Life's way too short for that! Anyway I wasn't having a dig at you personally. Presumably the company demonstrating at Friedrichstrafen think that folk want to fly while listening to music?