A2DP is the stereo sound protocol stack for BT. When using a mono headset (handsfree) BT utilises the SCO stack.
However using A2DP on the older versions of BT (before V2) isnt recommended because eventhough it is supported by older BT versions it will hog up the bandwidth and quality may not be very good. The reason being is that V1.x only have 723 Kbps where the newer BT has tripled speed to 2.1 Mbps…that is why you cannot use v.1.x to print on a laser printer because it is too slow, it is only opossible to print off a bubblejet. When using A2DP you will find that if you use any other BT devices while using the headphones they may not work properly.
thats all i can add im not sure how bad the quality is affected, any more info is appreciated.