TELEX STRATUS 30XT

Save to de.icio.us

PRICE £349.00 (sale price £314.20 at Transair)

TELEX has been a leading manufacturer of dependable, top-of-the-line communication equipment for 75 years. According to the company, more than 70% of commercial airline pilots use Telex headsets.
The Stratus 30XT is the latest offering featuring ANR, a built-in battery recharger, 50 hours of battery life, plus a thick foam headband and newly designed, more comfortable ear cushions.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
THERE'S no getting away from it, the Telex Stratus 30 XT is a substantial headset - the biggest of all the ones we've tested.

It soon became apparent that comfort is a big design driver. The Stratus has quarter-inch thick ear cushions and a well padded headband. The padding does make it feel a lot lighter than its weight of 520 grams.

The materials are all high quality and it looks like a rugged, dependable headset that will withstand years of use.

The headset carrycase is different to other manufacturers - it isn't a bag in it's own right; it's simply for keeping everything together so you can keep it in your flight case or flying bag.

The headset cord is very long. The battery box is unique as it has built-in recharger but it isn't designed as well as the headset itself - the battery cover is awkward to remove and feels like it might break if you're heavy-handed. The two grey buttons don't sit very straight in their housing either making it look a bit shabby.

There is an LED light that flashes once when you turn the ANR on but it doesn't remain illuminated. This LED flashes green several times when you turn it off – I'd prefer to see a constant green when the ANR is on.

IN A CIRRUS
YOU can definitely feel the difference in size compared to other headsets but The Telex is also extremely comfortable.

After putting it on, cockpit noise reduced considerably and my voice was clear in the ear cups. However, the first sentence I heard was Russ joking that I looked like Mickey Mouse wearing them.

With the ANR turned on, the headset performed even better. The only worry was that because of its sideways size it felt like I could knock the headset off when turning my head left and right.

IN A PA28
THE Stratus performed very well in the PA28 too and the radio hiss wasn't as pronounced as in other headsets. It felt like Telex had designed this headset with the PA28 in mind.

The ANR worked extremely well to cut out engine noise and this combined with the comfort would make a long flight, say a day trip to France, less fatiguing.

VERDICT
A RUGGED mid-priced ANR headset built to last with lots of padding and comfort with above-average audio quality.

The Telex performed well with and without the ANR turned on and I reckon this is the ANR headset you should go for if you have a noisy cockpit and don't want to spend a fortune.

The size would make it unsuitable for use in aerobatic aircraft. Expect some mickey taking because of its size but if comfort is high on your list and you like well-padded gear then go for this.

FEATURES
Weight: 520g
Total NR: 30dB
Power source: 2 AA batteries or from aircraft, built in recharger
Battery life: 50 hours
Auto shut-off: Yes
Microphone type: Noise-cancelling electret
Mobile phone jack: Yes
Music interface: Yes
Warranty: 5 years
w. www.telex.com

Send To A Friend