Whether a headset with a mismatched impedance is adequate or not depends on the user. I had a Flightcom ANR headset in my Fly Baby for years (Icom radio). Worked OK. As the years went on, the radio seemed to be getting quieter. My hearing going? My headset deteriorating? Either was possible.
But adding a $3 Radio Shack transformer as an impedance matcher brought the volume back up again.
Sure, those guys in ragwings might be happy with the straight headset. But they might be happier if they tried it with an impedance matcher. I fly one of them old ragwings, and am sure happier with my 8 ohm speakers or my impedance matcher.
The neat thing is, this is easy (and cheap!) enough to test. Connect your aviation headset to the radio, lay the headset on the bench, turn on the radio, tune to an unused frequency, then turn up the squelch so you get a constant hiss. Then disconnect the aviation headset and plug in your commercial one. In my experience, the higher volume level with the commercial headset is immediately apparent.
My winter headset is a Rapid Radios aviation headset that I modified by replacing the 300 ohm speakers with 8 ohm units.
No, I'm sorry... they draw MORE power from the amp (lower resistance!) but not "excessive" power. The specs for the Sporty PJ2 say:
"Audio Output
350 mW into 8 Ohms, 10%"
It's *designed* to put a given power level into an 8 ohm load. That is not "excessive."
Let's assume the radio is limited to 350 mW output. With an 8 ohm speaker attached, that's roughly 0.20 amps of current. With a 150 ohm speaker attached, that's 0.05 amps...a quarter of the current. The higher impedance speakers are going to have a harder time converting current to sound.
I'd have to have more evidence before assuming the published specs are incorrect.
In any case, I doubt that *any* of these radios were designed from scratch. Little VHF radios are sold for a variety of purposes, and it's probably a minor change to put them into the aircraft band. In the old days, we'd just use a different set of crystals, but no doubt the kids have better ways of doing it.
But it gets thornier when you reach the last stage of audio output. Every one of these radios has a speaker installed, and I'd be very, VERY surprised if they were anything but the 8 ohm units used in the Ham, police, and other VHF comm units sold by the company.
So...if the same radio is also to be used with an 150 ohm aviation headset, it needs impedance matching. The question is whether the PJ2 includes a SEPARATE impedance matching section to handle the 1/4" output jack. I kind of doubt it, but I could be wrong.
Just tested the adaptors for my ICOM ICA5 and IC23 radios. No sign of any internal circuitry... infinite resistance between the shell and the tip, and no resistance on any line from the plug at one end to the jack at the other. There's no impedance matching included. I really doubt other manufacturer's adaptors are any different.
In any case...again, it's easy to do a sound test between the two types of headsets. Don't have to believe me....
Ron Wanttaja