In rec.aviation.owning Thomas Borchert wrote:

: By a pilot-shop-branded derivative of the LightSPEED QFR XCc, as
: available at avshop.com, Gulfcoast Avionics and others. At about 250 $,
: that's your best bet, really.

: You won't get the best ANR, however, and my personal opinion is that it
: is not smart to cut corner in buying headsets. It's easily the most
: important piece of pilot equipment. So, get a decent ANR headset, e.g.
: the Lightspeed 20XLc. Why the bias on Lightspeed? They simply offer the
: best value.

My experience has been that the Lightspeed XC is a "better" headset than the 15/20/25's. The reason? MUCH
better passive. The "higher-end" Lightspeeds have a definate wow-factor with the ANR, but it's at the expense of
higher frequencies. I found some data on the 'net that these have some spillover in the 1-2kHz range, so they
actually *amplify* the noise in those frequencies. Of course that's after the passives, but still.... and I'm
particularly sensitive to those frequencies. I much prefer the excellant passive and moderate active (in the low
frequencies) on the X-Country.

-Cory

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* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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