Aqualung vs Atomic

[garyw90]

Hi All,
I read one of the earlier posts where a gentleman in San Diego was looking at various regulators.

I currently have an Aqualung Titan. I am considering getting a better regulator. I have noticed among other things that it tends to "scream" in colder water, like the mid to lower 50's. Not a comforting sound.

So I am considering the Aqualung Legend or one of the Atomic regulators, either the ZX2 or B2. Although they are within the same price range, the Aqualung is more affordable because I can pay for about half of it with Sport Chalet gift cards. On the other hand, my gut feeling tells me that the Atomic regulators are better, and I like the swivels on those things. I don't know if my local LDS that sells the Atomix regs can also service them.

So my question here is, does anyone have direct experience with both of these? How about any references to any articles comparing these regulators?

And please don't get into any squabbles about "life support". Just details and facts about the regulators. Thanks for any help!

 

[Fishpie]

Personally I'd stick with the Titan.....the unusual noise should be cured by servicing and is an annoyance more than anything else and uncommon in diaphragm regs.
If you have the base Titan 2nd stage you might try the balanced LX 2nd stage.
Mid to low 50's is not especially cold even for a piston reg like the Atomic....colder than 50 I'd stick with a diaphragm 1st stage.

 

[herman]

I agree with Fishpie, keep the Titan and get it serviced. The Titan/Conshelf design has a very long and solid history, there are no "better" designs. The hype about Atomics is just that hype, they are no better than other regs, esp. if we are discussing the first stage. If you have a standard Titan second stage (as opposed to the LX model) then one upgrade that would be an improvement would be to replace the second stage with either one of the many balanced barrel type second stages. The Titan LX, any of the Apex seconds or the HOGS would be good choices. If you stick with the LX or Apex the odds are the same tech can/will service both. If you change to a HOG or other brand service may be an issue but otherwise any second stage (except Poseidon) can be used. Don't get sucked into the brand X is better than brand Y BS, there is little real performance difference in modern first stages.

 

[divezonescuba]

We recently became Atomic dealers. Prior to that we hadn't really investigated exactly why many consider Atomic to be good regulators. Right off, there is the fact that the seat and orifice on Atomic second stages are not seated together when the regs are not pressurized. This allows for a longer recommended period between servicing that other regulators that do not have this feature. A second interesting feature is the automatic diaphram driven venturi switch. Instead of having to switch this manually, it is done automatically as you descend deeper. Theoretically, this should reduce freeflows while also allowing easier breathing at depth.

The Z2X with the swivel is a great deal at $499. The non-swivel version is an even better deal at $399.

 

[Hatul]

We recently became Atomic dealers. Prior to that we hadn't really investigated exactly why many consider Atomic to be good regulators. Right off, there is the fact that the seat and orifice on Atomic second stages are not seated together when the regs are not pressurized. This allows for a longer recommended period between servicing that other regulators that do not have this feature. A second interesting feature is the automatic diaphram driven venturi switch. Instead of having to switch this manually, it is done automatically as you descend deeper. Theoretically, this should reduce freeflows while also allowing easier breathing at depth.

The Z2X with the swivel is a great deal at $499. The non-swivel version is an even better deal at $399.

Interesting what you say, because those are also its negatives. The seat saver is a pain when rinsing, as it's like having the purge button pressed all the time when not pressurized.

And the lack of the manual venturi switch: I have to be really careful when I take my reg out of my mouth as I've had some big free flows, and it's amazing how quickly the free flows empty the tank.

 

[NCadiver]

You can't go wrong with either one of those regulators.