Bose A20's from overseas

[RotorBez]

All,

I am getting towards the end of my PPL(H) and have been looking around at headsets. I have been lucky enough to 'blag' a set of DC's however I see all the more senior pilots and instructors with their Bose A20's.

So are the A20's really THAT good? Or is it something that should be put on hold until I have progressed further into the flying world. Right now, I am probably at that stage of training that most of you would recognise - I equate everything back to an hours training, or even down to the .#'s

If the consensus is that these are 'THAT' good does anybody know whether I would have any compatibility issues with a set that were purchased in the US for use in the UK? Things like impedance or similar. Genuine question as I really don't know. What I do know however is that the price is pretty much £/$. I know about import tax etc etc but if I purchase them whilst out in the US on separate business I can 'circumvent' those thieving taxes.

Cheers for any replies.

RB
_________________
50.0 hours and climbing (R22)
Solo Nav, QCC, Skills test - Bring them on!!
All PPL(H) Theory exams now passed after having to start again after time lapsing on 5/7!!!

BMW R1200 GSA - that my instructor wants!!!

[flip2]

I've never used the Bose, but I own another brand of ANR headset.

Personally, I think that owning your own headset is a very sensible move for no other reason than hygiene. But maybe I just work with a lot of dirty people I do keep washable cotton covers for the last minute sim sessions.

Regarding compatibility, you have a couple of things to think about:

1. Impedance. Modern and GA aircraft tend to be high impedance. Larger old aircraft and military aircraft tend to be low impedance. To swap between them usually requires some form of impedance converter (the one I have doesn't work with Bose) or a mic swap. I'm told sometimes a speaker swap is required too, but I've never needed to do that. I work in a mixed fleet company, and people who own Bose have needed to buy bits from Bose in order to convert between the impedance fits. Impedance is more aircraft specific than country specific.

2. Plug. There are a few variants floating around, but generally speaking you will come across:
Twin Plugs, being the norm in fixed-wing.
U174/U, a single silver plug and the most common in helicopters (aka US NATO aka NEXUS).
UK NATO, a single brass plug which you'll find in some helicopters.
You can get various adapters to swap between the plugs. Again, plug type is more aircraft specific than country specific (although I've yet to see a UK NATO outside of the UK).

Hope that helps