TELEX STRATUS 30XT
FEBRUARY 2007
LOOP XTRA
9
Comfort zone
Ultra sturdy mid-priced ANR headset
TELEX STRATUS 30XT
PRICE: £349 APPROX
THE 360° LOOK
T
ELEX 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 off ering
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 30XT 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 diff erent
to other manufacturers – it isn’t a bag in
its own right; it’s simply for keeping
everything together so you can keep it in
your fl ight case or fl ying bag.
The headset cord is very long. The
battery box is unique as it has a 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 too heavy-handed.
The two grey control buttons don’t sit
very straight in the battery box which lets
it down slightly.
There is an LED light that fl ashes once
when you turn the ANR on but it doesn’t
remain illuminated. This LED fl ashes
green several times when you turn it off –
I’d prefer to see a constant green when
the ANR is on.
IN THE CIRRUS SR22
YOU can defi nitely feel the diff erence 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 earcups. However, the fi rst
sentence I heard was pilot Russ joking
that I looked like Mickey Mouse.
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 THE 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 fl ight, 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 build quality is superb and a
headset like this should last the course of
many years of use.
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
Passive
Not published
Active
Not published
Total
30dB
Batteries
2 AA, built in
recharger
Battery life
50 hours
Auto shut-off
Yes
Mic
Noise-cancelling electret
Mobile phone
jack
Yes
Music interface
Yes
Warranty
5 years
W: www.telex.com
❚
Hard-wearing 30XT is built to last.
‘It soon
became
apparent that
comfort is a
big design
driver’
RIGHT
FRONT
BACK
LEFT
