Whether you’re building a new kit or expanding the panel of a legacy or newer LSA, the current audio panel market is confusing. For VFR missions in a two-seat LSA, you don’t need some of the advanced features that tag along with TSO’d systems, including marker beacon receiver, six-seat intercom, cabin PA and even speaker operation. But you probably want Bluetooth music capability and a wireless telephone interface, plus the ability to pipe in traffic and other warning systems.
PS Engineering and Garmin have versions of their flagship and certified (read higher cost) audio products, but are trimmed and enhanced for LSA and kit applications. To see how they compare, we put them on our test bench for a critical evaluation of audio quality and feature set. Herewith are the results.