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Marv:

I too have tested the new Bose on a twenty hour trip in the Lancair 360, the
Pilot DNC PA-17-76 for 100+ hours, and most recently the Lightspeed 25XL's
on my 12 hour trip to Sun-N-Fun.

The Bose had good everything, small, light, comfortable, good sound and
mike, except for very poor passive noise reduction in the Upper frequencies.
A high hiss became annoying after a short time.  Worth $1000?

The Lightspeed's were comfortable, but too large on top to avoid hitting the
canopy in turbulence (why Lancair straps the seat belts to the back of the
luggage compartment instead of somewhere down low is still beyond me!).
They also "motorboat" when you try to chew gum or clear your ears or break
the seal in any way.  This audio oscillation is very loud and uncomfortable.
I tested them against the Pilot DNC 76's and the Pilot's active noise
reduction is much better in the lowest frequencies.  The very nice president
of Pilot showed me graphs of most of the other headset's noise with the ANR
on at all frequencies and this confirmed my results.  Worth $548?

The PILOT PA-17-76 (sounds like a Piper rag wing) are rechargeable, needing
no replacement batteries, last for 16+ hours between recharges, reasonably
lightweight, low on top (I remove the top pad), a removable cord for other
hearing protection applications,  and have a cigarette lighter adapter if
you forget to recharge them.  The ear seals should be replaced with the gel
seals though.  I would also prefer the battery to be in the cordset to
reduce weight further.  I don't know how long the rechargeable battery will
last but I have had them for three years with no loss of battery life. They
have a 5 year unconditional warrantee.  Price: $355.

Stu Seffern
Lantzair Flyers, Inc.
sseffern@home.com

LML website:   http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
Builders' Bookstore:   http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair

Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.