I have over 1000hrs combined on two pair of QT Halo headsets. I have two sets for a reason. I ship at least one of them back to Phil about once per year (or more) for prompt easy repair. We keep the same box on the shelf that goes back and forth to him. I have probably been instrumental in the sale of quite a few QT headsets. Some of what hasn't been said are some of their drawbacks. My comparison is the Clarity Aloft headset that Tanya has been using on the other side of the aircraft for about the same number of hours. Her CAs have been repaired once simply due to a ham fisted user. (Remember all statements in this post are my opinion.) The QT volume control pot is, said nicely, a huge frustration. The quality of that pot is by far inferior to that of the CA and I have found a real operational issue. Yes, I open them up and clean the pot quite often. In fact, I just pulled the unit I had in service, now sitting on my desk to open and clean the pot, and swapped in my 'spare'. Tanya is quite familiar with hearing "check, check, check, check..." in the intercom for 45 seconds while I monkey with the volume pot and wires (not aircraft wiring) to get consistent audio in both ears. Both of the units I'm now using have had wire/solder joint failures both on the control board and in the head assembly at the speakers. These headsets are pretty simple and most of the time, I just do the quick repair on the bench. Finally, there is the issue of sweat/moisture buildup in the ear tubes and baffles. This is a well known issue that there probably isn't any solid solution to. Maybe my ears just generate more moisture
. You can see the moisture buildup in the last inch of the ear tubes. This moisture clogs up the very fine screen tuning baffle in the tube and audio volume very gradually declines until you find that you've got the radios turned all the way up. The solution is to pull the ear tubes off, clip off the last inch of tubing, punch out the baffle, dunk it in alcohol, blow it out with compressed air, and reinsert it into the tubing. Note, this baffle is smaller than a BB. You can also simply ditch the baffle all together if you want with a big difference in audio tone. I'll repeat that I really like my QT headsets except for the above deficiencies. I fly with them at least three times per week. They are like a favorite pair of gloves that you refuse to let go of, however I am beginning to entertain the idea of getting myself a pair of CAs. I've just always accepted these details as general required maintenance, the cost of use. With the direct comparison of so many hours of the CAs in the other seat, I'm no longer so sure.
