While plugged into a demo kiosk at Sun ‘n Fun last March, Bose’s Hratch Astarjian chuckled and pointed out that the company didn’t develop the new flagship A30 in response to Lightspeed’s Delta Zulu headset, released late last year. It’s not that easy.
The replacement for the now discontinued and hugely successful A20 has been in development for at least the past four years—and it’s time for a refresh. My A20 has been a reliable, hard-working set, but I’ve been wondering when Bose would kick up the tech to a more modern level (the A20 has analog circuitry) and maybe tweak the design for more comfort. It’s done just that with the A30, priced at $1249.