Apeks v. Atomic v. Scubapro

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Its tough to go wrong with a XTX200. But, if you are just diving warm water, the XTX50 or even 40 will be all you need.

I'd say that if you'll be diving in water not colder than 50*F (10*C), the Apeks XTX20 is sufficient. I have used mine in various dive conditions including strong current and depths over 60m and had never had an issue with it. I never even have to adjust the venturi from the minimum setting. I can't find the link right now but it has been shown to breath as well as the high end Apeks models. According to Apeks its not rated for "technical diving" so take that how you want. I take it as a marketing idea to make you want to buy a more expensive model as Apeks doesn't present quantitative data to show why other regs are good for "technical diving" and this one isn't. Someone will probably challenge my thoughts on this.
 
All 3 of your choices are high performance regulators. Properly maintained and tuned, divers at recreational depths will be very hard pressed to tell the difference between them in terms of work of breathing or flow rate. Off the top of my head I don't know the numbers but my guess is that the Atomic, a piston 1st stage, will ultimately deliver a marginally higher flow rate than the diaphragms.

If you're diving in cold water, salt water or silty water, environmentally sealed first stages are a good thing. The Atomic system for environmentally sealing their 1sts is more expensive and not as effective as the diaphragm used in the MK17 and the XTX200.

The Atomic 2nd stage has a floating orifice that extends the life of the seat, which makes for longer service intervals. Because the orifices floats when it isn't pressurized, it's easier for water to enter the hoses/1st stage. The problem can be avoided if you exercise a little bit of care while rinsing/soaking.

Performance is obviously important but for most of us so is the "total cost of ownership." Find out what it's going to cost over the next ten years to service your selections and make sure you have easy access to a good technician. In the long run, that can easily be more important to your satisfaction than the marginal performance differences between your 3 choices.

If you really want to understand this stuff, get yourself a copy of two books:

 
Didn't see any mention of the FSR/XTX 200 1st stage I'm afraid.

Stick with what you know, rather than repeating what you think someone else has said.

As you obviously don't know, click the link in my post & see for yourself.

PS. If Chris Brown did actually say that an FSR was a barrel, & the hoses stick out all over the place, I wouldn't care what he sold or if he was god itself, he'd be wrong. Look at the picture in the link.

I have owned an FSR/XTX200, FSRXTX100 and a TeK3 which blows them all away with regard to hose routing. See for yourself...

Apeks Products
 
I have owned an FSR/XTX200, FSRXTX100 and a TeK3 which blows them all away with regard to hose routing. See for yourself...

Apeks Products

And yet, you insist that the FSR is barrel shaped with hoses sticking out all over the place.

As the OP hasn't asked for a comparison of the hose routing of Apeks regs on doubles, I'll just leave you to it.
 
The XTX200 performs great but the barrel shaped first stage has hoses sticking out all over the place...
The hoses on an FSR 1st stage (XTX 200), are mounted on flat surfaces. The LP ports, are on surfaces that are parallel & opposite each other. The HP ports are on a flat surface below the LP ports & on slight angle to them, but in the same plane. They most definitely, do not stick out all over the place.

PS. After my lousy description, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Apeks Products
Chris Brown (Silent World) is a Apex dealer and offers roughly the same words...

The Deco Stop

Didn't see any mention of the FSR/XTX 200 1st stage I'm afraid.
I have owned an FSR/XTX200, FSRXTX100 and a TeK3 which blows them all away with regard to hose routing. See for yourself...

Apeks Products
And yet, you insist that the FSR is barrel shaped with hoses sticking out all over the place.
@Scott L: The Deco Stop link is a post in a thread that discusses the Apeks Tek3 first stages. Later on in the thread, Chris Brown raises the point that, depending on the rig you dive, hose-routing using the DS4 first stage might be suboptimal on the left post...for diving doubles. There is no mention of the Apeks FSR first stage which is usually paired with the XTX200 second stage.

I could be wrong about this, but I think the OP is only interested in single-tank recreational diving. All of the Apeks first stages provide excellent hose-routing for single-tank setups.

Can't all of us Apeks users just get along? :D
 
Hi,

I will be in the market for a regulator soon. From a lot of reading, it looks like the following three are front-runners: Apeks XTX 200; Atomic M1, Scubapro Mk 17/G250. Can people who have actually used any combo of these give some feedback on how they breathe and other factors that I should look for?

I dive mainly in Florida or California, but will often travel abroad for diving (just back from Bali).

My diving is cool to warm water (no ice), and depths to 60m/180ft. Lots of wrecks so I am often in current/hard work situations. I want a lot of air on demand.

I have heard that the Atomics design might let water run up into the first stage if it is soaked without being attached to the tank and pressurized? Is there anything to this? It seems like a real disadvantage compared to just soaking in a bowl! What is the point of a sealed first stage if this can happen? Or, is this just an overblown problem that is not a "real world" issue.

On the advantage side, the Atomics claims that its venturi adjustment automatically maintains the same work of breathing thoughtout the dive as opposed to re-adjusting at different depths. Do the others have a similar feature? How does this actually work in real-world diving?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Guy

I have an M1 and I do like it, though I think that it may be overkill for your type of diving.

As far as the water working through the 2nd stage to 1st stage thing, it's a non-issue if you practice some common sense while cleaning your gears. I soak my Atomic regs (B2 and M1) in the sink all the time. The thing is that I don't soak them for hours on end. I leave them in the sink for probably no more than 10-minutes and then swish them around a bit. All the salts are gone by then. So, yes, technically water can get in the 1st stage but the question is why on earth would you or anybody want to soak the regs for hours on end? What point does that serve?

Anyway, you said wreck diving. Do you mean wreck penetration or just to go down and look at a wreck? If you do penetration dive then the quick disassembly feature of the M1's 2nd stage may come in handy. You have the option of equipping the 2nd stage with what Atomic called "Cave Rings" accessory. This option allows the M1 to be easily disassembled underwater and have the silt/mud cleaned out of it. Presumably you go on your octo or secondary gas source while doing this.

Some other nice features of the M1's 2nd stage are: wider exhaust to direct bubbles away from your face, and heat exchanger to keep the 2nd stage warm for ice diving.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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