SLRossi
Guest
Hello, I am looking at two regulators, the Aqualung Legend LX Supreme and the Scubapro MK25 A700 and I was wondering if anyone had an opinion. thx
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Paladin
Contributor
I am an Aqua-Lung fan from way back. Time-tested design, dependable, easily serviced and nearly indestructible. I vote Aqua-Lung.
axxel57
Contributor
Scubaboard server is too slow...
axxel57
Contributor
Both regs are high end regulators, so for whatever brand you decide, its not much you can do wrong.
The M25 is a balanced piston design, the Legend a balanced diaphragm one.
The Legend has more parts, but has a sealed main spring chamber, which might be good for dives in colder, more murky waters.
The M25 might be the choice for diving in tropical waters and when youre planning to travel a lot, because SP is worldwide more common, so in case of trouble you might easier find somebody to help you out with parts or a repair.
Im diving more than 25 years with SP piston regs and probably will not change in the future, but that is only because Im used to them and my favorite 2nd stages are the SP D series.
I have serviced quite some Legends and have been very impressed of their qualities.
On the flow bench the Legend showed me the highest dynamic intermediate pressure at 10 SFCM of all models I have tested before.
Its an easy breather and also pretty solid.
The A 700 is supposed to be 2nd stage with a very good qualities concerning the WOB (Work Of Breathing), it s quite new on the market. Most of the owners of a A700 are happy with it, only one wanted to change back to his older S600.
Since you cannot do anything wrong with either of them, I would concentrate on the question, do I have a LDS around, who can do the service or get me the service kits (if you should plan to do it yourself)?
Anyway, have fun .
The M25 is a balanced piston design, the Legend a balanced diaphragm one.
The Legend has more parts, but has a sealed main spring chamber, which might be good for dives in colder, more murky waters.
The M25 might be the choice for diving in tropical waters and when youre planning to travel a lot, because SP is worldwide more common, so in case of trouble you might easier find somebody to help you out with parts or a repair.
Im diving more than 25 years with SP piston regs and probably will not change in the future, but that is only because Im used to them and my favorite 2nd stages are the SP D series.
I have serviced quite some Legends and have been very impressed of their qualities.
On the flow bench the Legend showed me the highest dynamic intermediate pressure at 10 SFCM of all models I have tested before.
Its an easy breather and also pretty solid.
The A 700 is supposed to be 2nd stage with a very good qualities concerning the WOB (Work Of Breathing), it s quite new on the market. Most of the owners of a A700 are happy with it, only one wanted to change back to his older S600.
Since you cannot do anything wrong with either of them, I would concentrate on the question, do I have a LDS around, who can do the service or get me the service kits (if you should plan to do it yourself)?
Anyway, have fun .
White Knight
Contributor
I have the AquaLung Legend. It is a good reg "but" it has an overbalanced first stage. Supposedly, that makes it better for deeper dives, "but" it will cause most second stages to free flow (or slowly bubble) at depth. It supposedly doesn't happen until very deep, but mine would do it at 20 feet. I repalced my Zeagle alternate twice, and rebuilt it twice and tuned it down each time and it still did it. So, understand if you get an Aqualung, then your whole stetup will probably need to be Aqualung to work right. At least, that has been my personal experience. If that is an issue, then go with the Scuba Pro.
As a dive guide, for over ten years (2000+ dives) I've used Scubapro MK25/S600/R395/AIR2 as my kit without one problem. Expensive at first but cheaper in the long run.
"living life without a hard bottom"
KT
"living life without a hard bottom"
KT
Paladin
Contributor
I would think that your problem was that your IP was set too high and was over-riding your second stage.
Azrael
Registered
Is you Zeagle alternate balanced or unbalanced? The legend will increase it's IP/MP as you get deeper and without a balanced second hanging there you can override the spring pressure pretty quickly. Just a thought.
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
Paladin brings up a good point. The IP of the first stage needs to be set within normal limits, and the second stage needs to be tuned to that particular IP.
If the first stage IP has been set correctly, then a competent reg tech will have to investigate the cause of the reg malfunction, likely HP creep. Most reg techs will just do another overhaul of the first stage, but doing this won't necessarily solve the problem. It's possible that the crown or crown-to-body sealing surface is damaged. Resolution of such issues would require replacement of the crown or the entire body.
White Knight, your Legend first stage ain't working right. Get it fixed.
Or he needs a new tech. The "overbalance" on a Legend is in the 15 psi range at 100 ft. Any octo should be easy to set to handle that much "overbalance" if the tech knows what he is doing. I forget the exact numbers - I did a full math analisys on the "overbalancing" a while back but at 20 ft the "overabalance" is only a few psi, well withing the range an unbalanced second stage can handle, esp an octo.
To the OP, both are fine regs. I would make my choice based on the water I dive in, the regs my local/favorite dive shop sells and/or services and which I like better- pure personal preference. If you dive warm water, either is fine, for cold water, the sealed Legend has the upper hand.
To the OP, both are fine regs. I would make my choice based on the water I dive in, the regs my local/favorite dive shop sells and/or services and which I like better- pure personal preference. If you dive warm water, either is fine, for cold water, the sealed Legend has the upper hand.
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