List of diaphragm 1st stages with swivel turret and 5th LP port?
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I'm not sure about the dirty water part, but the MK25 is fine in cold water. I have approximately 100 dives on them in water less than 40°F including a few pretty deep dives (245' on the Gunilda) and I only recall one dive when I briefly had to throttle the valve on a deco bottle because of a free flow. I have had them with me on several more dives, but on my bailout tanks I haven't had to use them. I have the MK25EVO/G260 now, but have used the G250HP and G250V with whatever MK25 series first stages and they have been rock solid. YMMV, but I doubt it.
OP
As I am starting to move towards carrying 2 deco cylinders instead of just 1, I need to get 1 more reg anyway. If I go ahead and get a good new pair then I could have one pair for sidemount and my current pair for back mount doubles and have a little less reconfiguring to do when going from one type of diving to the other. Plus ready spares on hand in case of problems.
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I have dove sidemount with a MK25 and a HOG D3, you could not tell the difference. Nor would you be able to tell the difference if they were mounted on some doubles on your back and no one told you which side was which. The whole "best in the ultraverse" is justification for what people spend on the damn things. I am not going to drop $800 on a reg and say it is crap (not that it would be) but to say it out performed a $200-$250 reg is reaching the point of benchmark stuff that a diver will never experience.
The people that say that one can't tell the difference in performance between regulators, if you are talking about diving with regulators in swimming pools, perhaps you are right but real diving in real conditions and especially when diving in difficult or challenging conditions, you are wrong (or just trying to justify using less capable and more budget equipment). There is difference in performance between high end and lower end regulators indeed. It isn't just about "better" vs. "worse" but it is also about "I like it this way" vs. "I like it the other way." If you can't tell the difference, you are not "in-tune" with your equipment.
ams511
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The second stages are the part of the system that affect perceived performance not the first stages. The first stage's job is too deliver a stable IP regardless of depth and tank pressure. A modern balanced first stage is going to deliver more than enough gas for two divers. I have noticed no difference in performance switching various second stages between MK-10s, MK-20s, MK-25s, MK-16s, DSTs, and FSTs.
All the regulators @stuartv is looking at (except for the MK-25) are derivatives of the same Apeks design that has been around for about 20 years or so. I sincerely doubt there is going to be a significant difference between them. Aqua Lung (AL) wants to price gouge US consumers (look at the difference in price between products sold in the US and Europe), so others have stepped up and provided models that provide similar performance for less.
As far as price predicting performance, there is a poor correlation. The best values are in the middle of a manufacturer's product line. An AL Legend Super Deluxe Solid Gold regulator is not going to breath significantly better than the AL core. A Scubapro S620 is not going to breath significantly better than an S360, certainly not enough to justify the huge differences in price. Your a smart guy, look at the regulator schematics and you will see within manufacturers they all follow a basic design and many of the parts are interchangeable between models.
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