Buy Bose® A20 Aviation Headset (Battery-powered w/Bluetooth, Electret mic, Straight cord, Twin plug)Bose® A20 Aviation Headset (Battery-powered w/Bluetooth, Electret mic, Straight cord, Twin plug) Product Description:
- Newly designed pilot headset offers significantly better noise reduction in even louder environments
- Provides greater comfort and stability, with more room for your ears
- Auxiliary audio input for GPS and other devices
- Bluetooth® mobile phone connectivity lets you receive calls wirelessly without removing headset
- Meets or exceeds all FAA and JAA TSO requirements
Product Description
The A20 aviation headset is the most advanced Bose pilot headset yet. Its breakthrough innovations reduce more noise and provide even greater comfort than previous models, without compromising the clear audio you expect from Bose. Plus, the A20 aviation headset now includes auxiliary audio input and Bluetooth phone connectivity. The next-generation pilot headset from Bose. More than 20 years ago, Bose introduced active noise reducing headsets to aviation-and launched an entire industry. Year after year, pilots have made these headsets their #1 preference. Now, the A20 aviation headset introduces an entirely new standard. Enjoy a quieter flight. Proprietary technologies in the Bose A20 aviation headset reduce more noise than ever before, across the full spectrum of human hearing, in even louder environments. Advanced electronics now use microphones.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
32 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
WOW, top of the line gear! UPDATE ***
By AK
I needed a TSO headset for Part 121 flying. I tried the Sennheisers, the Telex, Lightspeed Zulu, and the Clarity Aloft noise canceling headsets over an extended period of time. My Clarity Aloft headsets finally failed after 5 years and it was time for something better. I decided to go BIG because I spend a lot of time flying the friendly skies and I wanted something comfortable and functional. Of all of the headsets, the Zulu's were close to the Bose but the Bose A20's win based on comfort and imperceptible weight. Sennheiser was a distant third, then Clarity Aloft (YUK), and finally the Telex's are not in this class of headset.I was amazed at the noise canceling and comfort of the BOSE A20's. The earcups are soft, there is no clamping of your head, I can wear them coast to coast, and the stereo quality of the AUX inputs is excellent. ATC calls and transmissions are clear as a bell. My only issue is that the noise canceling is so good that there is a tendency to p#ss off the guy your flying with if you have both earcups on and he wants to talk. It can be annoying to start every communication with "huh? what did you say?" I've learned over the years with noise canceling headphones to put the earcup facing the other pilot slightly off center of my ear so that I can hear him on the first pass. If he really wants to talk, I just take the earcup further off of the ear.I am kind of an audio freak and think I would rate the stereo audio quality as excellent, not crystal clear like Etymotic ER4P headset clear, but pretty close, definitely excellent. I didn't go with the Bluetooth version because it didn't inject audio, only phone.Overall, the Bose A20's are worth the money, glad I have them!! I think I'll have to be really careful they don't walk away.UPDATE 2/14/2011Unfortunately, I have decided to return these headsets in the 30 day trial period. After the first week, these headsets started to "hotspot" the top center of my head and became uncomfortable after several straight hours of continuous flying. The sound quality was excellent but it came down to a comfort issue. There were a few annoying things.1) If you set the headsets to STEREO, for AUX input stereo, then ATC only comes in on the left ear.2) The brainbox is kind of heavy and pulls down on your head alot when you turn your head.3) the "hotspot" issue.I'd recommend these headsets for single/multi engine piston pilots and instructors more than for part 121.**** UPDATE, News Flash..... I found Nirvana!!! After trying every noise cancelling aviation headset in the book, I found a part 121 TSO headset that blows everything else completely away, the Bose QC15/Uflymike, just google Uflymike. The lightweight comfort of the QC15's, the noise cancellation is excellent for a semi-quiet Boeing aircraft, the microphone interfaces perfectly with the aircraft, also, there is a stereo input, there are no hotspots on long flights, and it's TSO'd!! and it's $400 - $500 cheaper :)
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
ANR Changed My Life
By J. Benbrooks
Admittedly, I stepped from a $200 "vice grip" head set model to the $1100 Bose A20, so my opinion of the A20 is obviously high in comparison. Here is what I can fairly state about the Bose A20:First, the ANR truly is remarkable. I have not compared Bose's technology with others' such as Lightspeed, but I don't think you could be disappointed with Bose. On a recent flight, I traded my Bose A20 with the other pilot's Bose X. While the ANR difference between the two models didn't wow me, there was a definate level of improvement.Second, the comfort of the A20 is excellent. In the same headset swap referenced above, I was ready to get my A20 back because it fits so much better. I guess I am most impressed with the fact that I don't have a headache after flying a cross country flight from ridiculous clamping action.Third, the Bluetooth is a great feature, especially for those flying IFR and needing clearances from ATC via phone. I wish I had this function during my instrument training. Some criticism is probably valid of Bose when comparing the Lightspeed Zulu to the A20 because music on the A20 is via a provided cable while its available via bluetooth on the Zulu. At least while I fly, I am too busy to listen to music, but I see how this feature would be nice for a passenger. The question I have is how many devices on the market allow you to actually transmit music via bluetooth? I don't know the answer (I could be surprised) but for my purposes I'm happy to listen to music via the cable.Finally, it is worth noting that Bose (or some poor pilot) discovered a defect with the cable. They were proactive in communicating with customers who had purchased the A20 that they were working on a fix. This was followed a few weeks later with instructions on how to return the old cable and receive a new one. This process required me being without my headset for a week, which was really an unacceptable request for Bose to make of its customers (who purchased an $1100 headset). Once my return was in the system at UPS they were suppose to send out the new cable. They drug their feet on sending me the new cable and a customer service rep used inappropriate language during a phone conversation with me. The combination of these two events prompted me to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. When Bose contacted me, they didn't seem to be too concerned with my customer service experience though they did apologize for the language that was used. I did finally receive my new cable and it works fine (I never had problems with my old cable).NOTE: if you are effected by this replacement/recall I would demand that Bose send you the new cable before you send them the old one. The manager I spoke with during my complaint process indicated that they had provisions in their customer service policies to send a new cable first by customer request. The bottom line here is that customer service has been the only black mark I've had with my Bose A20.Overall, the Bose A20 is great. I'm not claiming its better than the Lightspeed Zulu as I have not compared. What I am willing to say is that if you buy the Bose A20, you'll not be disappointed with the quality and performance you receive.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Too bad it was not comfortable, noise reduction great
By KSH
I am a commercial pilot flying the 747 internationally. It has a very noise cockpit, and while new on the aircraft, I have already noticed that 75% percent of all pilots on it use some kind of noise cancelling headset. My first leg with the headset involved a big delay out of JFK; I wore the headset for 9 hours straight. After 2 hours it created a sore spot on top of my head. I used it the next three ocean crossings with the same result of a sore head after a couple hours. This confirmed my decision to return it. The other drawback is it is very big and bulky, so does take a fair amount of room in the flight bag. As another review stated, the control box is quite heavy and you can feel it dragging against your head at times. While a negative, I could of lived with this issue if it was not for the feel of my head being in a vice grip after a couple hours.Now for the positives, the head sets noise cancelling ability is excellent. The quality of ATC transmissions is amazing, although it does not always solve the problem of understanding the Scottish controllers, it sure helps. As mentioned in another review you do need to keep one side half off your ear to hear another person in the cockpit. I noticed the bulk of other pilots have the Telex model, it is much smaller and lighter. I borrowed another crewmembers Telex for 1/2 hour, and while you did not notice you even had it on, it was not as quiet, and did not do as good of job at noise cancelling.
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