Bose A20 review. Another leap in ANR.
October 4th, 2010. Filed under: Tools.
The new and the old Bose
I’ve owned the Bose X for about 5 years, 400 hours. I love them. But I longed for better performance and more features – like bluetooth for getting IFR clearances at my non-towered field. A few months ago I purchased the Lightspeed Zulu thinking it might be equal to the Bose X plus some nice features. (my Bose vs. Zulu review) While I was waiting for the Zulu to come in, Bose has the nerve to announce their latest and greatest – the A20. Well! This could be a game changer.
My expectations were not high. The pilot on my left shoulder said “yeah yeah… new model… some matching features to the Zulu to stay competitive”. But the pilot on my other shoulder was whispering “but they’re from Bose”. Knowing I had 30 days to try them out, I figured I’d see who was right.
My A20 arrived about a month after I placed the order. Opening the box, the first thing I noticed was the shape of the case. More rectangular. Hmmm…. interesting. Opening the case, the most obvious change was the larger ear cup size and deeper foam. One of my hopes was that the deeper ear seals (like Lightspeed is known for) will give a better seal around glasses.
You can see here that Bose now has a stop to keep the ear cups separated to avoid premature compression of the foam.
Bose also got wise and engineered the headband so the ear cups would stay separated when it’s not on your head. I always thought that it was counter productive to have full clamping pressure forever on the ear pads when not in use. I’ve always try to store the X with some kind of mechanical way to separate the cups so the foam does not get compressed prematurely and to give them an opportunity to expand again after a flight.
I was excited to try them out and the timing of their arrival could not have been better. I had a 5+ hour flight tomorrow. I couldn’t wait. I’ve said this before, you can’t get too much quiet (as long as the engine is running ). I figured even if they are marginally better, I’ll keep them.
I fired up the engine. Placed the A20 on my head. Turned on the ANR. WOW! I mean REALLY WOW! Un-believable! The cancellation blew me away. In disbelief, I switched to the Bose X. I couldn’t believe my ears. In comparison, the Bose X, which I loved so much, sounded like a medium quality passive noise headset!! There was an astonishingly marked difference in noise reduction. I’d say there’s a 30-40% reduction in noise over the Bose X and 40%+ over the Zulu (And I haven’t even gotten off the ground yet.)
Taxi to 35. During the run up. I notice is the engine sounds totally different. Higher pitch. Start the roll out and the next improvement shows… no take off growl. I don’t know what the heck that was with the Bose X, but it seemed that the ANC circuity could not keep up with the changing frequencies of take off. There’s none of that with the A20.
Level off into cruse. 160Kts. 200Hp 4-cylinder engine with wide open throttle. These are the quietest headphones I have ever worn. After about an hour I switch back to the old Bose X, my baseline. Again, I’m overwhelmed by the difference. So much so, I have to double check to make sure the ANR is turned on on the X. I switch back and forth hourly over the course of the flight, being amazed each time.
When switching headsets, I become very conscious of the smaller ear cup size on the X. Over the years I guess never noticed. But now, every time I put them on, I feel like my ears are scrunching in. I’ve never had a complaint about the X ear cups to date. So… that just tells me (you) how much more comfortable the larger cups are on the A20.
Cushioning has increased. A nice plus, but heat retention in that area has increased as well. Only during the peak of summer did the X feel hot. Now, here it is, the beginning of a cool Fall and I’m finding myself after a few hours of wearing the A20 to take them off to cool off a bit.
Noise seal around thin temple eyeglasses are better, but still not perfect. I still tend to rest my glasses on the top of the ear cups. With the A20, it seems, that a good seal around the ear is more critical than ever.
Clamping pressure still feels appropriate. My nine year-old daughter is a good test of that. She’s tacitly sensitive – the kind of person that has to have her sock seams lined up just right. She has almost no complaint of their pressure (that’s a rave!). Again, the fact that the ear cups no longer get pressed together when in storage is a big design plus. (or, really correcting a “duh.. they should have done that in the first place”)
After flying with them for over 20 hours, the biggest adjustment I have found is the engine frequency difference. Many times I’ve had to glance over to the RPM thinking the engine was running 3-400 rpm faster than it was. No biggie. I’ve adjusted.
I’m really really happy with this new Bose and if you have the ability to have the best, then get yourself a pair of these. You’ll love’m!!
click for larger pic
![Our in-flight move "The Sunset" begins.](http://www.thejoyofaviation.com/wp-content/gallery/portland_october_30_2008/img_1650.jpg "Our in-flight move "The Sunset" begins.")
May 22nd, 2011 at 7:26 am
Hello!
It was great to read your review of the Bose A20. I recently purchased one myself and the very first flight out, I heard some sort of “squeaks” on the ground of my departure airport after I or my captain were done speaking to each other via the intercom. Then, once airborne, I could hear some static when either of us spoke to each other- similar to a sound you hear when you have the volume too high on a set of a speakers. I called Bose, and they sent me out a new pair. This pair seemed to have the same squeak on the ground, but I have found out this may have some relation to the ground radar at the airport. The static noise airborne was still there a little bit, but I am realizing I just speak quieter as compared to my old PNR headset. So, all seemed better…until I heard the squealing noise. This happened when I went to adjust the boom and accidentally lifted the left earcup away from my hear. This caused a very loud and annoying squeal to occur. Pressing down on the ear cup and letting go causes the same thing when the ANR is on. It doesn’t happen when the ANR is turned off, but even just a fast movement of my head causes this squeal to occur. I was curious if you have found any issues like this? It was obviously a very expensive headset and I have a feeling that shouldn’t be happening. Is it something I’m just going to have to “get used to”?
Thank you!
July 3rd, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Hello Erin,
Squeal- Yes unfortunately mine do that too, strangely enough, in the left ear only. It’s certainly an unpleasant experience. I try very hard not to break the seal on the left ear, or if I have to (say to change position of the cup), I break it fast so the squeal is minimized.
Intermittent static- There are two reasons I experience this with all my ANR headsets. 1) Radar (weather or traffic) close by – say within a mile. I don’t always get this, but when I do, it seems to correlate with what I would imagine the swing of the antenna would be. 2) Cell phone interference. Probably more common, a kinda brap b-b-b, brap kinda noise. This happens just as a call or txt is about to come in.
Oh, I guess there’s one more reason I can get noise/static, but in this case it’s more related to my plane. I get alternator noise through the intercom system. When the music port is open, I get a high pitch squeal that makes me nuts. It varies with each of my ANR (not passive) headphones, but it’s most pronounced with my LightSpeed. The solution to that is I plug in a special headphone plug that closes the circuit. (or plugging in an mp3 player or anything, even turned off, will do the trick for this particular situation.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions. I’ll try to answer quicker next time.
November 27th, 2011 at 4:49 am
Hello,
I bought the Bose A20 and I experienced this squeak/squeal noise during my first flight with it! I thought the headset had a problem and I asked the shop to give me another one. But it did not help. The squeal/squeak sound/noise was also present on the new one. Let me describe the problem. You do not even need to be in the cockpit to reproduce the problem. You just need to put the ANR on (yes this is an ANR issue). Then you put the headset on your head and you press the ear cups towards your head (after a while in flight the seals are always a little bit compressed). Then you remove the ear cups at different speeds. Try this a few times and you will hear the squeak/squeal sound for sure! In flight this happens naturally when the headset is moving a bit when you touch at the mike or move your head rapidly for instance. Conclusion: All Bose A20 have a serious ANR design problem! Indeed when you pay 960 euros it must be perfect, no? I went back to the shop and explained the problem. They will inform Bose. But I took another headset (I do not want to tell which one on purpose because I do not want to make any kind of publicity). I initially bought the Bose because I thought this brand would be perfect. But Bose has a serious issue with this headset and the squeal/squeak noise…
Before you buy, try it and you will see….
November 27th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Fred- Yup. You are absolutely right. You describe the exact issue that Erin stated above and I respond to.
It is very disappointing that they have this issue. It does have something to do with the ANR when the seal around your ear is broken. It takes a second for the system to figure it out and I beleive what you are hearing is the raw anti-wave. (whatever it’s called).
Your comment makes me reflect on this issue and I can’t seem to remember when the last time this has happened to me. I remember that it happened frequently (all the time) when removing the headset at the end of the flight. Now, I can’t remember the last time it has happened. Either it doesn’t happen anymore, or I’ve become adapt, unconsciously, at quickly removing the headphones (if you break the seal quickly you don’t get the squeal) or I just don’t notice anymore.
The next time I go flying, I’ll have to examine this to see which it is.
I have to say that, yes, spending over US$1100 on something that is not perfect is very disappointing, BUT they are still far and away the quietest headsets I have ever experienced.