I have a stable full of both. Mk19/G260, Mk11/S600, Mk25/D420/620ti....Atomics M1/M1 and 2 Atomics ST1/Z2. I took the Mk19/G260 diving recently as it was my favorite. I got the first ST1 for my wife and rsingler tuned it. I tried my wife's ST1 after my Mk19/G260 and was hooked...I went out and got my own ST1. I think they are all pretty close and I agree that the ST1 "feels" smoother linear easy all you can ask for air delivery reminds me of my Audi...it just keeps delivering performance. The G260 and the D420 are like my Corvette....you romp on it and it moves...the others are a close second. Now having said all that I do have an Apeks XTX 200 that so far on the surface seems to be right between the ST1 and the G260...I think I am going to be pleasantly surprised by the performance of the XTX 200...which rsingler tuned before I even got it wet. If I had to pick one and only one regulator I would choose the ST1 ...for now...
Question Can I expect big differences moving from Scubapro to Atomic?
- Thread starter SaltyWombat
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I’m willing to bet that if it was possible to do a double-blind test, no one would be able tell the difference between the SP, AL, AA high end regs. All mostly what you “think” is in your mouth. It’s more a function of how well tuned they are.
I had to dive a MK2/C200 recently. Serviced the week before. Given the kind of diving that I did: warm water around 70-90 feet, I forgot that I had a “crap” reg. It breathed like a dream.
I had to dive a MK2/C200 recently. Serviced the week before. Given the kind of diving that I did: warm water around 70-90 feet, I forgot that I had a “crap” reg. It breathed like a dream.
This is nothing compared with my testing recharable batteries from different brands I use in my strobes for u/w photography. I am the Libyan Diver version of "Consumer Reports" for batteries and scuba regulators.
If you are referring to me, I tune per mfg. specs on the higher performance specs side but never outside the the mfg. specs when making comparisons. I tune outside mfg. specs to better performance just to test where the edge is and how much I can push the tunning before instability in performance starts to occur but this is a different story.
It wasn't double blind, I'll grant you that. And it wasn't multi-brand. But doing an all-position, "eyes closed" pool test, switching back and forth between regs multiple times, I could feel subtle differences.
A bit like a paper bag comparison of your two favorite "identical" Bordeaux wine blends. OMG are they different!
Long story short: I sold my A700.
Post in thread D420! How about that?
There's no qualitative analysis comparing regs breathability AFAIK. So much depends on how it is serviced. A properly tuned regulator is going to breath comfortably. You will have some fan bois extoll the virtues the regulators that they used. This is common, but not useful. If anyone can provided a qualitative comparison with a description of how objective results were obtained, that would be useful.
This is one reason why servicing your own regs is so important. You can have a high end reg that performs below its potential due to a shop tech cutting corners. I've had too many shops screw up servicing my regs (ScubaPro, Atomic, Apeks), so I do it myself. Though I did use Octopus Gardens in Port Townsend, WA which always did a stellar job. Some shops do excellent jobs each time and every time. But it is hit and miss if you don't know. As I plan on opening a dive center, I made the leap to service my own regs.
This is one reason why servicing your own regs is so important. You can have a high end reg that performs below its potential due to a shop tech cutting corners. I've had too many shops screw up servicing my regs (ScubaPro, Atomic, Apeks), so I do it myself. Though I did use Octopus Gardens in Port Townsend, WA which always did a stellar job. Some shops do excellent jobs each time and every time. But it is hit and miss if you don't know. As I plan on opening a dive center, I made the leap to service my own regs.
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