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Here is my experience with ANR headsets in my coupe: I have tried four different ANR in my Coupe and have settled on one that I am happy with. The rest had problems when I flew with the windows open (which I do most of the time). The first I tried was the Lightspeed 25XL http://www.anrheadsets.com/products20xl.html. This worked fine with the windows up but open cockpit gave sharp burst of noise as air leaked under the ear seal. The problem with the lightspeed is they use high gain and a small air leak causes a big burst of noise. I next tried a Denali ANR http://shopping.pilotportal.com/catalog/showitem.cfm?product=871. The gain on this headset was lower but the earseals still could not put up with the airflow from an open cockpit. I got less loud but annoying burst of noise. My third test was a David Clark H10-80 (not an ANR set) which I modified with the headsetsinc.com ANR kit http://www.headsetsinc.com. If you are handy with a soldering iron the headsetsinc kit makes a standard headset into a very good ANR set. I was very impressed with the quality of the noise reduction with the kit. My main complaint is that headsetsinc suggest that you cannot use deep foam earmuffs with their kit. I tested it with gel ear muffs but I find that the normal and gel muffs allow my ear to touch the inside of the speaker and my ear starts to hurt on long trips. I normally use the oregon aero thick ear muffs (made of tempurfoam). I also wish the custom cord that came with the kit did not split the power from BETWEEN the mic and phone cord. A minor but annoying detail. I finally settled on the Telex ANR 4105 http://www.telex.com/Multimedia/WebPages.nsf/pages/AircraftANR4105 which are about $385. at marvgloden.com http://www.marvgolden.com/headsets/TELEX.HTM The telex have a number of features that work well for me and my Ercoupe. They use an extra thick ear cushion which keeps my ear away from the speaker and makes them usable on long trips. They have a 4 way adjustment cam to set the clamping pressure so they can be adjusted for open or closed cockpit. The noise reduction is good (but not as good as the headsetsinc kit). I have had the Telex since Sept 2001 and have been very happy with them. My only complaint is it uses a 9v battery rather than AA's which I already have in my flight bag for my GPS so I have to carry two sizes of spare batteries (the lightspeed uses AA). OTOH the battery case is very small, some headsets use a fairly big battery case especially considering the size of the batteries inside. I have also tried the Bose and Senhieser ANR headsets (but not in an Ercoupe with the top open.) The Senhiesers hurt my ear (from touching the speaker) on a short 1.5 hour ride. The noise reduction was fine but I was not that impressed with them. The Bose seemed very nice with good noise attenuation but I did not wear them long enough to make sure they would be comfortable on long flights and I did not try them in a Coupe with the top open. To summarize. Several of the headsets I tried did not work well in my Ercoupe with the windows down. Make sure that you get the ability to return any headset if it does not work in your Coupe. I also find that a headset that feels fine on a 1 hour trip can be agony on the way to OSH (12 hours). I am very happy with the Telex 4105 my wife bought me for my birthday. If you want to save money but the headsetsinc kit and modify your current headset. David Abrams [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://ercoupe.com ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/
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