Advice on Legend vs Legend LX

[Pelonofear]

Hi All,
since it is about time I get my own gear, I was thinking of starting from the regulator.
I am leaning towards the Legend series from Aqualung, and I am specifically debating between Legend and Legend LX (both in Supreme version). As i understand the main thing is that the LX has the Master Breathing System (MBS), but I don't seem to find other relevant differences. How much of an improvement does the MBS offer? Is it worth the ~$100 price difference?
Please consider that I do not dive year-round (mainly in spring/summer). However, 30% of my dives are in colder water (quarries). 80% of my dives are to a max depth of 90, but will likely increase to deeper in the immediate future. And I will probably log around 50-60 dives per year at the most (at least for the next few years, hopefully I will do more in the future).
Finally (and sorry if this makes it more difficult for you guys), is it worth considering the Titan LX? Money is not a problem, but at the same time I believe it would be dumb to pay for something that I don't need or that does not make a significant difference for the type of dives I will do.
I appreciate any suggestion.

Thanks guys!

 

[ams511]

Welcome to the world of scuba. I am not an expert on Aqualung regulators so I will not answer your question specifically. I will leave that for someone else. However, I will tell you that generally there is not much difference between regulators. Your dive shop may tell you otherwise but don't believe it. Of the three regulators you mentioned I think you would be hard pressed to tell the difference in breathing effort. The MBS allows the diver to adjust the performance of the regulator during the dive. Many divers (myself included) prefer this feature however it is not necessary and does not effect performance of a well-tuned regulator.

Quarry diving from late-Spring to early-Fall is not really cold water, so any regulator should work well in those temperatures.

 

[Pelonofear]

I agree on the temperature of the quarries. I guess my question about the MBS was going more toward the issue of depth. I have indeed spoken with my dive shop and even if they did not push me in any direction, they made the point that at depth beyond 100ft you start "sucking air" more than breathing and the MBS could give you a more comfortable experience. Now, I have not gone beyond 90ft so far, but I am getting more and more into wreck diving and would eventually like to break the 100ft mark (just because many wrecks beyond that depths). So if it's true that the MBS makes it easier to breathe, how easier?

 

[ams511]

The effort required to start a regulator flowing air is called the cracking pressure. On the Legend LX it can be adjusted by the diver while on the Legend it cannot. In theory, if both regulators are tuned properly to factory specs there should be no difference in breathing performance. In practice, you can tune an adjustable reg more aggressively because the diver can always increase the cracking pressure to stop the free-flow. On a non-adjustable reg the technician need to tune the reg more conservatively so that it does not free-flow during the dive. Personally, I do not like the new Legends that combine the cracking pressure adjustment with the venturi adjustment. I prefer adjusting them separately, like in the Apeks XTX-50 or a Scubapro S-600.

 

[Pelonofear]

Thanks for the info ams511, I will consider it carefully.

 

[GCullen94]

I agree with ams511. Having an adjustable regulator is nice, I dive Apeks XTX50's and I keep my primary reg wide open with the cracking pressure and the venturi half open. My backup is backed down on cracking pressure and ventruri half open. I never have had a free flow issue on my backup even in the strongest of currents and I can still breath off of it easily in an emergency. After I hand my primary off I just flip a lever after everything else is settled and I am back to breathing a fully tuned regulator. How set are you on aqualung? Apeks regulators (owned by aqualung) are another great alternative and are very popular in the tech diving community. Scubapro's are also very popular.

 

[Pelonofear]

Funny enough, just yesterday I (almost) decided to go with the Apeks XTX50. Did some more research, talked to some friends, and they all said pretty much the same thing. Bottom line is (personal opinion considering my needs): the Legends are probably not worth the investment, and between the Titan and the Apeks, I will probably enjoy more the XTX50, especially considering the direction I am taking in my diving, which is wreck. Thanks GCullen94.

 

[GCullen94]

No problem, PM me if you have anymore questions on gear. A lot of my diving is cold water wreck diving in southern California. Other solid options are:
HOG D1/D3's First stages
HOG Classic/Zenith second stages
Scubapro Mk25/MK 17 first stages
Scubapro S600/G260 second stages

 

[ams511]

I would also recommend the Subgear Cayman which is a Mk-17/S-600 for a few hundred dollars less than the Scubapro branded item. You can contact Beaver Divers on the board and he can set you up at a discount.