Talk to me about Audio Panels . . .

[EricJ]

10 hours ago, rbridges said:

I have the original PMA 450, and I've really grown to love it.  It was a replacement for a KMA24.  The 450A included a copilot as passenger feature which I miss having on mine.  It lets the copilot listen to music and not be interrupted by ATC calls.  My wife usually puts ours on ISO so she can listen to her phone, but it cuts me off intercom with her.  Of course, she probably sees it as win-win for her.  

I have a PMA450B and the music/audio capability still impresses me.   I have 1/8" music jacks in front of the passenger and in the back seat, and it is easy to configure so that the pilot, passenger, and back seaters can all be listening to independent music sources and still converse on the intercom.   With the dual BT it is possible to have all four occupants have their own music sources without bugging anybody else, and still converse freely.   Admittedly I haven't tried this yet, but I've used the BT and the front jack for music on trips and both work just fine.   Using the phone via BT also works great through the headsets, which is great on the ground for filing/clearance delivery at untowered fields.

Lots of cool features in those units.   Definitely one of the better purchases I've made for the airplane, but you do pay up a little for it.

[Browncbr1]

I’d suggest going with PS engineering whatever. I have a 8000b that I got for not much.  My cowl deck leaked once and it dripped on it shorting out side tone.  I pulled it out and drove 30 minutes to PS engineering here in east TN, and they comepletely refurbed it while I waited. All new buttons and faceplate, which I didn’t even ask for.    It was nice to see all their engineering and manufacturing happening under one roof right here in east TN.  

[Marauder]

1 hour ago, Browncbr1 said:

I’d suggest going with PS engineering whatever. I have a 8000b that I got for not much.  My cowl deck leaked once and it dripped on it shorting out side tone.  I pulled it out and drove 30 minutes to PS engineering here in east TN, and they comepletely refurbed it while I waited. All new buttons and faceplate, which I didn’t even ask for.    It was nice to see all their engineering and manufacturing happening under one roof right here in east TN.  

A lot of people don't know that Mark (owner of PS Engineering) & I worked at HP at the same time. If there is one thing "old" HP drilled into us was that quality mattered.

[orionflt]

good, please ask Mark if I can send me one install and test one of the PMA-450B's in my Mooney

I'll bring your cup back to you!!

Brian

[orionflt]

on a serious note, I have been going back and forth between the GMA-345 and the PMA 450 for my plane. if they were the same price I would take the 450 with out a second thought.

right now I am evaluating features and deciding what ones I would use vs nice to have. I currently have a KMA-20 with a softcomm 4 place intercom so either one is a major improvement.

Brian 

[Niko182]

4 minutes ago, orionflt said:

on a serious note, I have been going back and forth between the GMA-345 and the PMA 450 for my plane. if they were the same price I would take the 450 with out a second thought.

right now I am evaluating features and deciding what ones I would use vs nice to have. I currently have a KMA-20 with a softcomm 4 place intercom so either one is a major improvement.

Brian 

id take the 450B. the garmin 345 is way older and has already been replaced with the 350. additional, the install cost will make the overall difference between the 345, and the 450B a very minor difference. Everyone praises there 450, and i've been doing research, and the features on them are awesome. plus you get a charger.

[toto]

2 hours ago, Niko182 said:

id take the 450B. the garmin 345 is way older and has already been replaced with the 350. additional, the install cost will make the overall difference between the 345, and the 450B a very minor difference. Everyone praises there 450, and i've been doing research, and the features on them are awesome. plus you get a charger.

I think the 345 is newer than the 350. I say that only because I bought a 340 a couple years ago and between the time I ordered it and the time it was installed, they had come out with a new one. At the time, I hadn't wanted to spend the money on the 350, so the 340 was the available alternative from Garmin. 

[Marauder]

on a serious note, I have been going back and forth between the GMA-345 and the PMA 450 for my plane. if they were the same price I would take the 450 with out a second thought.
right now I am evaluating features and deciding what ones I would use vs nice to have. I currently have a KMA-20 with a softcomm 4 place intercom so either one is a major improvement.
Brian 

Brian - we should fly sometime together so you can see the 450 firsthand. I’ve flown in 340 equipped planes and unless the newer Garmin units improved a lot, I think you’ll find the PSE units have a cleaner sound quality.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[KLRDMD]

14 hours ago, Niko182 said:

Everyone praises there 450, and i've been doing research, and the features on them are awesome. plus you get a charger.

The 450B for the Bonanza will arrive tomorrow. I also put one in the Baron. The charger is nice, especially since it is a USB-C Charging Port that provides 15 Watts of power.

[M016576]

On 1/15/2019 at 5:17 PM, KLRDMD said:

Trade the 430W for an Avidyne 440, easy swap out. $4,845. https://avionicssource.com/product/ifd440-upgrade-430w

Trade the 340 for a PMA450B, the best audio panel on the market, bar none. $1,725. https://avionicssource.com/product/ps-pma450b-upgrade

That's $6,570. You'll need to add a wire on the 440 to get audio out and have the 450B installed so I'm guessing $7,500 should do it.

I just swapped the 430W that came in the Bonanza for an Avidyne 440 yesterday and I just ordered a 450B from Chase @Avionics Source today 

Thanks for this!  I just ordered a PMA450B swap for my 8000BT- it’s been on my list for a while- and the price is very attractive.