PMA 7000B vs. PMA 450B

[Pictreed]

On 1/11/2025 at 11:01 PM, Andy95W said:

I just wanted to follow up on this thread since I was the one that started it three and a half years ago.

I ended up installing the PS Engineering PMA 8000G about a month ago.  I talked to Mark Scheuer ( @Mscheuer )the owner/founder of the company, at Oshkosh last year at the PS Engineering booth and I’m glad I did.  I had been considering the Garmin audio panel but I’m really glad I got the 8000G. One simple reason- I’ve had some post installation questions and Mark gave me his cell number to call if I needed to. I guarantee nobody at Garmin would’ve done that.

I’ve never been much of an audiophile and after 10 years in the Army and 35 years being around airplanes I’ve likely lost a good bit of hearing.  But I was shocked at how clear and good the sound was in my headsets compared to before. I don’t listen to music while I’m flying, but I plugged in the music from my phone and couldn’t believe the clarity and sound.  It’s better than my car, and my car is really good.  Lastly, I love not having to adjust the squelch for the intercom.

I decided on the 8000G over the 450 series primarily because of price (about $600 cheaper after all was said and done).  Plus, I really like the large buttons and I really didn’t need 2 Bluetooth inputs.

So anyway, I’m very happy with my choice and I don’t think you could go wrong with any of the PS Engineering products.  I upgraded from a King audio panel and a basic intercom which I always figured “Meh, it’s good enough.”  But this is really so much better.

Same experience here with PS Eng and Mark. I have some electronics background and thought it would be super simple, which it mostly was but there were problems I found with previous work and you always find something else that needs to be fixed along the way. Fortunately I had an IA, an Avionics Engineer, and some avionics veterans helping (I love our GA community).

I ended up going with the 450C because of the few features that set it apart and the fact I could monitor my standby freq on the IFD440 which would may it easier for my IFR SOPs. I would have been just as happy with the 8000 because honestly who needs to listen to 3 or 4 freq at a time LOL. Besides I fly some very complex airplanes, it's nice to have the fast simple Mooney to change it up and relax.

I questioned if I would go Garmin or PS but I'm glad I did because Mark is awesome!