I have a PSE 450. It was about the only thing my wife noticed after the panel upgrade. The stereo sound.

I’d lean toward PSE due to the fact that they’re just an audio company that makes one product.

I think I’ve given Garmin enough of my dollars. It’s nice to support small niche companies.

This is a total no-brainer...

PS Engineering without even a second thought.

Why, you ask?

I've been working with PS Engineering equipment for quite a few years. I've only twice needed to interact with the company for telephone technical support. Both times were rather awkward in terms of timing. Both times I've received a callback on a Saturday night (against my expectation that I wouldn't hear from them until normal business hours on Monday). Both times that call came from none other than the company principal, Mark Scheuer.

Try that with Garmin.

This too was my experience. The PMA450B is amazing

This too was my experience. The PMA450B is amazing

450B gets my vote as well.

Truly amazing.

I think the autosquelch is better in the PSE than the Garmin units, in addition to the comments you get on sound quality. I've taught with Garmin panels in the clients' airplanes, and school airplane, and I've owned PSE equipment in my aircraft since the first portable the company made in something like 1991 or 92.

I installed a PS Engineering Aerocomm II portable intercom in my Bonanza in the mid 80's. I still works and I use it in my taildragger with a handheld radio.

In my experience the PS is the best sounding by far. I have been a high end audio guy professionally for 34 years. I noticed a large difference in audio performance with the PSE.

I have owned 2 PSE and 2 Garmin audio panels.

Mike

i have owned multiple PSE units, and multiple garmin units. And have replaced garmin units with PSE units in the past as well. Mark S of PSE is immensely helpful, and will post/respond on anything related to PSE here. My guess is he is quietly lurking. . lol

Me personally, I would almost always go the 450B route IF i had the space for the audio panel. the service, quality and features just beats the Garmin. But if I didnt have space for an audio panel - and needed it remote mounted/controlled - then the Garmin obviously makes more sense and would be where I went. And this has been the case for many planes being upgraded as many planes have the GNS530 units to be replaced with a GTN. Well the GTN takes up that extra space where an audio panel (or transponder) used to be. So its usually the transponder or audio panel (or both) that end up being remote controlled from the GTN. That would be the only reason I would go the Garmin GMA35x route over the PSE. The PSE wins on the rest.

I also chose the 450B.

One other thing, if you go with remote Garmin, you gain panel space, but you lose space on the display controlling the audio panel,

Admittedly, I have not been on this form as often as I used to be. After this thread, I can assure you that is going to change.
Thank you everyone for the gracious comments, they are truly and deeply appreciated.

Mark

… and support. Mark, rocks!

I spoke with the PSE folks at SNF and OSH, and my only comment was "I wish I could give you guys more money, but you build your products so damn well."

Best,
Rich

I’ll cast another vote for the PSE. My old plane had a 340, and the current plane had an old narco just like yours. I upgraded that narco to the PSE 8000b and holy cow, what a difference. I’m a classically trained musician, and I perceive the audio quality of the PSE to be better than garmin as others have said. The UI is better (buttons have a “clickier” feel but the rubber is soft to the touch), and I find it intuitive to use. Best part is when I get ready to go to the 450B, it’s a slide in job and a log entry.