A20 Aviation Headset

The a20s have a hinge on the very top and I absolutely hate it. (Probably have 300 hours in em) I’ve been using Light speed Zulus just shy of a decade (have about 3000 hours in em). Not a single complaint. Amazing customer service and quality. I will say the a20s are lighter and I think the boom/mic quality is better. Although the boom is ridiculously long imo. I don’t think you’ll have an issue with size. Just my 2 cents.

I have a pair of DCs H10-60 (with gel cups and cotton covers) from 30+ years ago and A20s from 15+ years ago. The Bose are great for long flights where I want the Bluetooth and noise cancelling. But the DCs still still get a lot of use in helicopters and are actually more comfortable.

For me, DC OneX is the best of the lot. I have 2. One for work, one for the Baron. The work one lasted 8 years before I needed to send it in for a new cord. Free, too. Smallest full over the ear ANC and tough as hell. LS for the wife, light and bulky af. Bose don't fit my head nor the wife's. And they're over hyped. Not as durable. But, folks love them I guess. I have an A20 for pax, but I don't see the attraction.

Look for a new pair of bose a20s if you can find them. Used if not.

No you can get multiple options for the cable. Opt for the xlr since it’s powered by the plane not batteries. Everything is better. The a30 is alot more money, less comfortable, has worse sound quality, and worse noise cancellation. The “features” like being able to reduce anr and tapping the earcup to hear through, are useless, borderline annoying features. I bought the a30 as an upgrade to my 12 year old a20 and immediately realized it was a downgrade and returned them. I then got proflights. They werent comfortable on me at all and the anr sucked compared to the a20 but i was willing to take some hits if they were alot smaller in my bag. But the ear tips were super hard to keep in my ears. I got ear molds and they actually made the anr and overall sound quality worse by so much that i just sold the headset and threw the ear molds out. I bought a DC pro x2 as a backup headset which i do really like, but its a little fatiguing to wear for 4 hour flights, so i refurbished my a20 and use them most of the time. If you can find an a20 new or slightly used you will get at least a decade out of it, and then maybe more after a cheap repair if its still supported by then.

What are you flying? For piston A30s or get used A20s from a former CFI. For jets, the Bose Proflights have been the favorite of the three headsets I’ve worn.