Lightspeed 3G Headset Updates?

[Marco Leon]

Well Google shows the most recent solicitation from the group for feedback
on the Lightspeed 3G headsets was back in early 2003. Jay Honeck gave a very
positive update in March of 2004 in response to another post but no mass
(relatively speaking) feedback on general experiences. Soooooo....if I may:

1) What model and how long have you had them?

2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?

3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?

4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?

I think Jay's bought two new Twenty 3G's since March so I'd be interested to
see if they've proved as good as the first pair. Also, if anyone's gone FROM
a Lightspeed headset to another with good results, that would be interesting
too (well, to me at least).

Thanks!

Marco "DC H20-10 owner whose wife thinks he does too much research" Leon
N36616 out of KFRG

[Arnold Sten]

Marco Leon wrote:
> Well Google shows the most recent solicitation from the group for feedback
> on the Lightspeed 3G headsets was back in early 2003. Jay Honeck gave a very
> positive update in March of 2004 in response to another post but no mass
> (relatively speaking) feedback on general experiences. Soooooo....if I may:
>
> 1) What model and how long have you had them?
Model 20-3G owned about 15 months.
>
> 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?
Longest trip was 4 hours. Headset remained very comfortable. Butt sore,
however.
>
> 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?
Nothing broken or any other problem.
>
> 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?
Do not know. I've not had to find out.
>
> I think Jay's bought two new Twenty 3G's since March so I'd be interested to
> see if they've proved as good as the first pair. Also, if anyone's gone FROM
> a Lightspeed headset to another with good results, that would be interesting
> too (well, to me at least).
>
> Thanks!
>
> Marco "DC H20-10 owner whose wife thinks he does too much research" Leon
> N36616 out of KFRG
>
>
>

[C J Campbell]

I upgraded my old LightSpeed to a 20 3G sometime last year. Since then the
battery box has had to be replaced. Cables tended to break where they
entered the old type of battery box. The new battery box has a better
design.

The biggest problem I have had with headsets is not really the headsets, but
some of the new Cessnas that put the jacks up on the door handle so that the
cords come straight up out of the jack. Everyone complains about snagging
and breaking cords with these.

[Jay Honeck]

I believe I can shed some more positive light on Lightspeed:

> 1) What model and how long have you had them?

We have three pair of Twenty 3Gs, and one old pair of 25XLs.

> 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?

Two weeks ago we flew 21 hours in two days, to Reno and back. My headphones
were perfectly comfortable until the last hour, when they just started to
press the bow of my glasses uncomfortably into my temple. Moving the bow of
my glasses a bit solved that.

In other words, for any normal flight, you can be assured of perfect
comfort, far superior to any headset I've worn.

> 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?

The old 25s were sent back to Lightspeed on multiple occasions. The
not-so-new-anymore Twenty 3Gs have been absolutely perfect. They seem to
have addressed their quality control problems successfully.

> 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?

Dunno. Nothing seems to break anymore!

I'd buy another in a heartbeat -- but I've only got a 4-seat plane!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[C J Campbell]

I forgot to mention: I regularly fly all day long with my 20 3Gs and
experience little or no discomfort.

[Peter MacPherson]

1) I've had the 30 3G's for about 2 months.

2) I have about 30 hours on them and the longest trip so far
was about 4 hours(a few different times). They were as comfortable
at the end as they were at the beginning.

3) Nothing has broken.

4) N/A

Pete


"Marco Leon" <mmleon(at)yahoo.com> wrote in message
...
> Well Google shows the most recent solicitation from the group for feedback
> on the Lightspeed 3G headsets was back in early 2003. Jay Honeck gave a
> very
> positive update in March of 2004 in response to another post but no mass
> (relatively speaking) feedback on general experiences. Soooooo....if I
> may:
>
> 1) What model and how long have you had them?
>
> 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?
>
> 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?
>
> 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?
>
> I think Jay's bought two new Twenty 3G's since March so I'd be interested
> to
> see if they've proved as good as the first pair. Also, if anyone's gone
> FROM
> a Lightspeed headset to another with good results, that would be
> interesting
> too (well, to me at least).
>
> Thanks!
>
> Marco "DC H20-10 owner whose wife thinks he does too much research" Leon
> N36616 out of KFRG
>
>
>

[John Theune]

"Marco Leon" <mmleon(at)yahoo.com> wrote in
:

> Well Google shows the most recent solicitation from the group for
> feedback on the Lightspeed 3G headsets was back in early 2003. Jay
> Honeck gave a very positive update in March of 2004 in response to
> another post but no mass (relatively speaking) feedback on general
> experiences. Soooooo....if I may:
>
> 1) What model and how long have you had them?
>
> 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the
> end?
>
> 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?
>
> 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?
>
> I think Jay's bought two new Twenty 3G's since March so I'd be
> interested to see if they've proved as good as the first pair. Also,
> if anyone's gone FROM a Lightspeed headset to another with good
> results, that would be interesting too (well, to me at least).
>
> Thanks!
>
> Marco "DC H20-10 owner whose wife thinks he does too much research"
> Leon N36616 out of KFRG
>
>
>

I've got a pair of 20 3G's and have flown with them for a year. Longest
was about 6 hours out to Oshkosh and they are just fine. No problem at
all with them.

[Hamish Reid]

In article >,
"Marco Leon" <mmleon(at)yahoo.com> wrote:

> Well Google shows the most recent solicitation from the group for feedback
> on the Lightspeed 3G headsets was back in early 2003. Jay Honeck gave a very
> positive update in March of 2004 in response to another post but no mass
> (relatively speaking) feedback on general experiences. Soooooo....if I may:
>
> 1) What model and how long have you had them?

Thirty 3G's, traded up from 20 XL's about three months ago.

> 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?

Longest continuous trip with the 3G's was about 5.5 hours, and the
headsets were comfortable the entire time. Comfort has never been an
issue with any Lightspeed ANR headset that I've owned -- they've all
been very good for this, even after 6 hours in a 172...

> 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?

Nothing's broken on the 3G's... yet. The 20 XL's went back *three times*
to LightSpeed for repairs in the three years or so that I owned them.

> 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?

Unknown. LightSpeed's customer service has always been unfailingly
friendly, helpful, and efficient. But then it needed to be :-).

Hamish

[Marco Leon]

Thanks Jay, I was waiting for your feedback. The reason I limited the thread
to Lightspeeds is because I am seriously torn between the 20XLc and the
Twenty 3G. They're pretty much neck-and-neck in terms of specs. I'm really
leaning towards the Twenty 3G now. Has anyone out there purchased the new
20XLc recently? I wonder if they've updated it by replacing the flimsy
hardware.

Marco Leon


"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:wEV6d.140719$MQ5.81124@attbi_s52...
> I believe I can shed some more positive light on Lightspeed:
>
> > 1) What model and how long have you had them?
>
> We have three pair of Twenty 3Gs, and one old pair of 25XLs.
>
> > 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the
end?
>
> Two weeks ago we flew 21 hours in two days, to Reno and back. My
headphones
> were perfectly comfortable until the last hour, when they just started to
> press the bow of my glasses uncomfortably into my temple. Moving the bow
of
> my glasses a bit solved that.
>
> In other words, for any normal flight, you can be assured of perfect
> comfort, far superior to any headset I've worn.
>
> > 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?
>
> The old 25s were sent back to Lightspeed on multiple occasions. The
> not-so-new-anymore Twenty 3Gs have been absolutely perfect. They seem to
> have addressed their quality control problems successfully.
>
> > 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?
>
> Dunno. Nothing seems to break anymore!
>
> I'd buy another in a heartbeat -- but I've only got a 4-seat plane!
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>
>

[john smith]

Add question 5. Are you an owner or a renter. (Owners would leave the
headsets in their airplane plugged in. A renter is repeatedly
plugging/unplugging, wrapping the cord, tossing them around, etc)

Marco Leon wrote:
> Well Google shows the most recent solicitation from the group for feedback
> on the Lightspeed 3G headsets was back in early 2003. Jay Honeck gave a very
> positive update in March of 2004 in response to another post but no mass
> (relatively speaking) feedback on general experiences. Soooooo....if I may:
>
> 1) What model and how long have you had them?
>
> 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?
>
> 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?
>
> 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?
>
> I think Jay's bought two new Twenty 3G's since March so I'd be interested to
> see if they've proved as good as the first pair. Also, if anyone's gone FROM
> a Lightspeed headset to another with good results, that would be interesting
> too (well, to me at least).
>
> Thanks!
>
> Marco "DC H20-10 owner whose wife thinks he does too much research" Leon
> N36616 out of KFRG
>
>
>

[dave]

I'm not trying to stir the pot but I looked at several ANR headsets. I
was only able to try them at the demonstrator board at a pilot shop at
LNS, Lancaster, PA. Performance wise I'd have to say that in the pilot
shop they all worked well. As far as comfort, my mother was right - I
have an iron head. None of the headsets felt uncomfortable. None of
them really stood out as extremely comfortable. I ended up with a pair
of david clark 10-20xl's. They are without a doubt the most solidly
constructed. Even the spring loaded jacks that attach the cables to the
battery box are impressive. I was also concerned about all of returns
I've read about of the other brands. It's nice to hear that
manufacturers like lightspeed stand behind their products but the
failure rate seemed too high. You may spend more for david clarks but
the amount of time spent boxing up and returning broken headsets also
has value. One other nice feature with the 10-20xl's, you can use the
battery box, one 9volt with auto-shutoff, or have the panel kit
installed. Right now I'm using the battery box but I plan to add the
panel kit.
Dave
68 7ECA
Marco Leon wrote:
> Well Google shows the most recent solicitation from the group for feedback
> on the Lightspeed 3G headsets was back in early 2003. Jay Honeck gave a very
> positive update in March of 2004 in response to another post but no mass
> (relatively speaking) feedback on general experiences. Soooooo....if I may:
>
> 1) What model and how long have you had them?
>
> 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?
>
> 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?
>
> 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?
>
> I think Jay's bought two new Twenty 3G's since March so I'd be interested to
> see if they've proved as good as the first pair. Also, if anyone's gone FROM
> a Lightspeed headset to another with good results, that would be interesting
> too (well, to me at least).
>
> Thanks!
>
> Marco "DC H20-10 owner whose wife thinks he does too much research" Leon
> N36616 out of KFRG
>
>
>

[Bob Fry]

"Marco Leon" <mmleon(at)yahoo.com> writes:

> 1) What model and how long have you had them?

3G since June. Like Jay, I traded in the old ones (25XLs).

> 2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?

Sacramento, California to Bellingham, Washington, 8 flying hours in a
single day. Headsets never a problem.

> 3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?

Nothing broken so far. The previous headsets had broken 2-3 times
over a few years.

> 4) Is the customer service and/or turnaround on repairs still good?

Great as always.

[Thomas Borchert]

Dave,

> I ended up with a pair
> of david clark 10-20xl's.
>

Yes, your mother WAS right ;-)

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[aaronw]

On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 10:42:26 -0400, "Marco Leon" <mmleon(at)yahoo.com>
wrote:
>1) What model and how long have you had them?

20 3G about hmm.. 18 months or so? Something like that.

>2) What was your longest trip and were they still comfortable at the end?

Longest trip, maybe 2 hours one way. No problems.

>3) How many times have they broken (if any) and what broke?

Nothing broken.

The problem I have with them (and this may just be my stupidity) is
that when the battery is low it cuts in and out on the ANR every
second. I tried pushing the button, but it did not make it stop. I
ended up opening the battery compartment and popping out the battery
to make it stop before I was able to extract a new pair from my flight
bag.

aw

[Marco Leon]

Isn't "stirring the pot" what the Usenet is all about? ;)

I have the DC H20-10 headset and I am pretty much happy with it. There is a
small "quirk" where the volume of my voice is low when I transmit but that's
not a big deal. It doesn't happen with other headsets so I am assuming it's
the David Clarks. When I looked at the price of the ENC H20-10's the price
of over $600 for less active noise cancelling than its competition made me
look at the alternatives. From the responses to this post, it seems that
Lightspeed has "fixed" its hardware quality issue. Whether it will last 10
years like some David Clarks remains to be seen but even if you take comfort
out of the picture, the increased performance, lower price, and same initial
quality of the lightspeeds make it worthy of my investment.

Thanks for your 2 cents!

Marco Leon

"dave" > wrote in message
...
> I'm not trying to stir the pot but I looked at several ANR headsets. I
> was only able to try them at the demonstrator board at a pilot shop at
> LNS, Lancaster, PA. Performance wise I'd have to say that in the pilot
> shop they all worked well. As far as comfort, my mother was right - I
> have an iron head. None of the headsets felt uncomfortable. None of
> them really stood out as extremely comfortable. I ended up with a pair
> of david clark 10-20xl's. They are without a doubt the most solidly
> constructed. Even the spring loaded jacks that attach the cables to the
> battery box are impressive. I was also concerned about all of returns
> I've read about of the other brands. It's nice to hear that
> manufacturers like lightspeed stand behind their products but the
> failure rate seemed too high. You may spend more for david clarks but
> the amount of time spent boxing up and returning broken headsets also
> has value. One other nice feature with the 10-20xl's, you can use the
> battery box, one 9volt with auto-shutoff, or have the panel kit
> installed. Right now I'm using the battery box but I plan to add the
> panel kit.
> Dave
> 68 7ECA

[Rich Badaracco]

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that Lightspeed has fixed their
quality problems. I just sent back my 20-3Gs that I purchased at Sun n Fun
this year for the second time. I have an intermittent problem with a loud
pop in the left ear followed by maximum volume static. The only way to get
rid of it is to turn off the ANR. It went back in May for the same problem.
Lightspeed has been great about support but I'd prefer not to have the
shipping costs and lost usage time. If it keeps up at this rate I would have
been able to buy the Bose headsets with the savings in FedEx charges.

"Marco Leon" <mmleon(at)yahoo.com> wrote in message
...
> Isn't "stirring the pot" what the Usenet is all about? ;)
>
> I have the DC H20-10 headset and I am pretty much happy with it. There is
a
> small "quirk" where the volume of my voice is low when I transmit but
that's
> not a big deal. It doesn't happen with other headsets so I am assuming
it's
> the David Clarks. When I looked at the price of the ENC H20-10's the price
> of over $600 for less active noise cancelling than its competition made me
> look at the alternatives. From the responses to this post, it seems that
> Lightspeed has "fixed" its hardware quality issue. Whether it will last 10
> years like some David Clarks remains to be seen but even if you take
comfort
> out of the picture, the increased performance, lower price, and same
initial
> quality of the lightspeeds make it worthy of my investment.
>
> Thanks for your 2 cents!
>
> Marco Leon
>
> "dave" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I'm not trying to stir the pot but I looked at several ANR headsets. I
> > was only able to try them at the demonstrator board at a pilot shop at
> > LNS, Lancaster, PA. Performance wise I'd have to say that in the pilot
> > shop they all worked well. As far as comfort, my mother was right - I
> > have an iron head. None of the headsets felt uncomfortable. None of
> > them really stood out as extremely comfortable. I ended up with a pair
> > of david clark 10-20xl's. They are without a doubt the most solidly
> > constructed. Even the spring loaded jacks that attach the cables to the
> > battery box are impressive. I was also concerned about all of returns
> > I've read about of the other brands. It's nice to hear that
> > manufacturers like lightspeed stand behind their products but the
> > failure rate seemed too high. You may spend more for david clarks but
> > the amount of time spent boxing up and returning broken headsets also
> > has value. One other nice feature with the 10-20xl's, you can use the
> > battery box, one 9volt with auto-shutoff, or have the panel kit
> > installed. Right now I'm using the battery box but I plan to add the
> > panel kit.
> > Dave
> > 68 7ECA
>
>

[Jay Honeck]

>I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that Lightspeed has fixed their
> quality problems. I just sent back my 20-3Gs that I purchased at Sun n Fun
> this year for the second time. I have an intermittent problem with a loud
> pop in the left ear followed by maximum volume static. The only way to get
> rid of it is to turn off the ANR.

Just curious: Does this happen near the end of the battery life?

I've found that right before the batteries give up the ghost, we get all
kinds of fluctuations, pops, and ANR weirdness.

We just pop new batteries in at that point, and all is well again.

If it's still doing it, insist that they send you a new pair. Lightspeed
will also give you a UPS (Fed Ex?) shipping number (so that THEY pay
shipping) if you ask for it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Rich Badaracco]

I've noticed that too. In this case it's happening when the battery box is
indicating a good charge and it's a MUCH different popping and static.
Thanks for the heads up on the shipping numbers. I'll be sure to get that
the next time.

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
news:jVw8d.124563$wV.8057@attbi_s54...
> >I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that Lightspeed has fixed their
> > quality problems. I just sent back my 20-3Gs that I purchased at Sun n
Fun
> > this year for the second time. I have an intermittent problem with a
loud
> > pop in the left ear followed by maximum volume static. The only way to
get
> > rid of it is to turn off the ANR.
>
> Just curious: Does this happen near the end of the battery life?
>
> I've found that right before the batteries give up the ghost, we get all
> kinds of fluctuations, pops, and ANR weirdness.
>
> We just pop new batteries in at that point, and all is well again.
>
> If it's still doing it, insist that they send you a new pair. Lightspeed
> will also give you a UPS (Fed Ex?) shipping number (so that THEY pay
> shipping) if you ask for it.
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>
>