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Another opinion for the pot: A few years ago I was prepared to buy the best ANR headset money could buy, which I presumed wou1d be the most expensive, i.e., Bose. I was bent in that direction anyway because I had been trying to rationalize such a purchase ever since Bose first introduced ANR into aviation.
But at an AOPA convention in Palm Springs I tried both the Bose (A10 then, I think) and the Lightspeed Zula 2, and for me it was a slam dunk for Lightspeed in terns of both comfort and noise reduction (as per the the self-serving tests both manufacturers setup at the convention). I had not expected that, at all. But I now have two Lightspeed Zulu 3 models (Zulu 3 introduced the non-fraying Kevlar cord) and cannot bear to fly inside my little spam can without one.
This is one of those subjective areas in aviation where everyone's opinion is valid. But I will point out the Bose is far more of a marketing company than a technology company. They introduce a good product then market the living daylights out of it. For example, try to recall how many full page ads you must have seen over many years in multiple publications for the unchanging Bose desktop CD player the really only amplified the bass (IMHO). Bose is the same way with their excellent aviation headsets, Clearly they have a marketing arrangement with Sporty's whereby Bose will ALWAYS be presented in a more favorable light than Lightspeed. Bose always get preferential placement in Sporty's catalogs. if Sporty's rates Bose a 9.8, then Lightspeed will be a 9.7. If a product photo (e.g., a flight bag) in Sporty's catalog happens to include both Bose and Lightspeed heasets, the Bose will be placed higher than the Lightspeed. There are no exceptions. This has to be contractual, and such obvious marketing tends to push me in the opposite direction.
But at an AOPA convention in Palm Springs I tried both the Bose (A10 then, I think) and the Lightspeed Zula 2, and for me it was a slam dunk for Lightspeed in terns of both comfort and noise reduction (as per the the self-serving tests both manufacturers setup at the convention). I had not expected that, at all. But I now have two Lightspeed Zulu 3 models (Zulu 3 introduced the non-fraying Kevlar cord) and cannot bear to fly inside my little spam can without one.
This is one of those subjective areas in aviation where everyone's opinion is valid. But I will point out the Bose is far more of a marketing company than a technology company. They introduce a good product then market the living daylights out of it. For example, try to recall how many full page ads you must have seen over many years in multiple publications for the unchanging Bose desktop CD player the really only amplified the bass (IMHO). Bose is the same way with their excellent aviation headsets, Clearly they have a marketing arrangement with Sporty's whereby Bose will ALWAYS be presented in a more favorable light than Lightspeed. Bose always get preferential placement in Sporty's catalogs. if Sporty's rates Bose a 9.8, then Lightspeed will be a 9.7. If a product photo (e.g., a flight bag) in Sporty's catalog happens to include both Bose and Lightspeed heasets, the Bose will be placed higher than the Lightspeed. There are no exceptions. This has to be contractual, and such obvious marketing tends to push me in the opposite direction.
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