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I wanted to report a customer service experience that I had with the David Clark Company.

I had purchased one of their H10-13XL headsets back when I started my pilot training 3 and a half years ago and then another for my wife a several months after that.

These are the ones with the electronic noise cancelling and have a battery box that holds 6 AA batteries.

The first experience was that shortly after I bought the second headset, David Clark came out with the upgrade to the model. They did away with the AA battery box and replaced it with a smaller, more compact battery box that holds a single 9 volt and features auto-shut off. At the AOPA convention in Palm Springs I stopped by the DC table and saw that this was what was on display. I mentioned that I had just bought the model and that it came with the old battery box. The rep told me to send it in. I did and they sent me the newer improved box free of charge. Of course I was happy.

Recently my other older model battery box headset (holds the 6 AA) leaked battery acid. Now this has been the 4th time this has happened but it was also the worst incidence of leakage. I am not sure but suspect that it might be something about the design that causes the battery leaks to happen ? Anyways, I sent the entire headset unit in to DC and they emailed me when the unit arrived and then emailed me a day later letting me know that they were sending me a brand new 9 volt newer style battery box as a replacement, free of charge. Now here is the clincher . . .they also cleaned up the headset which had some acid on it, changed the gel earpads and headpad and mike cover and replaced the rubber fitting where the cord enters the headset earcup. They basically overhauled my headset for free, no questions asked.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I love their product and their service and I'm sticking with them forever, although it seems I'll never need to replace my headsets as these things are pretty bombproof in my opinion.

I also love the seafoam green color.

Sounds like they are trying to compete with lightspeed's customer service.... Competition is a great motivator.


Dave

DC has always had a very good history when it comes to customer service plus they make a very good product. I'm glad to hear that the tradition continues.

Every once in a while a story like this pops up and it is refreshing when compared to the status quo.


Jim

Edward,

Good report. I have also had excellent customer service from David Clark, and It is my opinion that their quality of construction is the best in the industry, their headsets, cords and battery boxes are all much sturdier than the competition. I also like the sea foam green color.

But. (you might have guessed there was going to be a But, yes?)

If you want to continue to love your David Clarks, then whatever you do, don't test fly a Lightspeed or Telex ANR. The comfort and noise reduction of either is miles ahead of David Clark. This is not just my opinion, 6 of us flew 11 different ANR headsets enroute to Clinton, each pilot flying at least one leg with each headset. Our conclusions?

We flew both the original style and the newer plastic frame David Clarks, and they finished near the bottom of the ratings.

Lightspeed or Telex were everyone's favorite. Two of the pilots bought the mid priced Telex right away, and two others bought mid priced Lightspeeds (including yours truly)

Our tests did not include the just introduced David Clark X11, which does look like an improved model, and may be every bit as good as the Lightspeed and Telex, at $800 it better be.

I tried on a the Lightspeeds and the Telex headsets at the Aircraft Spruce store in Corona. They have a booth that blasts out sound frequencies that simulate interior aircraft noise. Anyways, I have to agree that they do attenuate the noise better.

I did not really like the construction of them, though and they really pinched my head hard. I guess my head is a little too fat. They both seem to be different in their construction and definitely in their materials than the DC's.

I do prefer the DC's overall from an appearance, materials, construction and durability standpoint. They are really well made pieces of hardware.

I guess it goes back to my days of when I was drooling over the Hughes 500D at the Dayton Airfair close to where I grew up when I was in 10th grade. I spent the entire afternoon by the helicopter, skipping most of the airshow. Finally, the demo pilot asked me where I lived and I told him Lima, Ohio. He said, well that's not too far of a diversion from where he was taking the helicopter that night. After getting permission from mom and dad I hung out until he shut down his display. He handed me a pair of sea-foam green DC's and off we went. He dropped me off in the field behind my house.

Then when I worked ground crew for a traveling helicopter aerial spraying operation, the pilot had a pair of DC's. We always wore helmets when we went up for rides, but he told me DC's were the best.

So I guess I'm just stuck on them. Besides, TC and
Thomas used them on Magnum PI too and I've always thought THAT was cool.

I was going to do some of the noise upgrades to my DC's using the Oregon Aero aftermarket headset quieting kit. Its supposed to drop the noise level another 5 DB or so. When I do, I'll let you all know what I think.

Kudos to DC. THAT's the way business should be conducted.

I had the pleasure of trying out a Bose headset on the return trip from CWI, thanks to Bill Warner. Oddly, I find my old 15XL Lightspeed to be relatively comfortable (for me)on a long xcountry flight, so comfort wasn't really an issue. What I did find to be extremely welcome towards the latter part of a long day's flight was the fantastic noise cancellation achieved by the Bose. Best guess: It seemed to cancel about 50% of the aircraft noise that the Lightspeed lets through. The audio from the com radio was crisper as well. I had both headsets hooked up and switched back and forth to determine this. It was as fair a comparison as you could make. I realize my old LS isn't in the same league as the Bose price-wise, but it was still interesting comparing them side by side. I loved the Bose noise cancelling ability and it is obviously a very high end product.

As much as I love the DC's I would give them up lickety-split if someone said they'd trade me their Bose headsets for them.

I'm with you Ed, but price kept me shopping and I'm very happy so far with DC.
Maybe Sportys should have an "also ran" prize every year of Bose headsets