Question Poseidon Xstream or Apeks XTX50?

[JC12]

Hello

I'm having hard time to make decision about which reg I should buy.
Right now, it's between Poseidon Xstream and Apeks XTX50.

There is alot of reveiws/videos about XTX50, but about Xstream is more than 3 years old revewis.

I'm SM beginner diver and typically I'm diving cavern/cave in Mexico.
My instructor recommened XTX50 which is very command and easy to get service. And also because Xtream 1.stage is lack of turret so I'll have problem when hose is bended. Even if I adjust with adopter, it will be problem.
I see that problem for long hose(right) side, when I have to perform f.x S-drill

I will not sevice them by myself, know the shop they can service both og them.

Can you help here guy? it will be VERY appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Johnsonsa93]

I very little hands on knowledge of Poseidon's so I won't comment on them at all but I can give you a quick Pro's & cons of Apeks XTX50's

Pros:

Quality material: I've worked on a lot of these and short of previous technician mistakes (scratching inside of 1st stage balance plug) & user error (flooding 1st stage and letting it sit for long periods to corroded & dropping of regulator set / rough handling) I see almost no major components that need to be replaced beyond regular service

Parts for life: As long as you continue to have them inspected regularly (every year) and serviced regularly (at least every other year or 100 dives - which ever comes first) and you keep the owners inspection sheet updated by the shop when you bring it in you will get service parts for life. This will save you ~$100 every time you bring them in for service

Ease of breathing: They breath great as long as you're not trying to provide 3 different divers breathing extremely heavily from the same 1st stage at once you will never over breath these regs

Widely supported service: you can find a dealer / authorized center within an hour drive of most places where there is any decent amount of diving.

Specifically for sidemount: The seat / crow are very solid and even after 2 years since last service and hundreds of dives the IP on these is really solid. No worries of a small IP creep leading to a slow leak from a 2nd stage


Cons:

Price: enough said

long term support: Small chance of parent company being sold again in the near(ish) future or the whole Apeks & AquaLung brand going the way of Dacor / U.S Divers / Seaquest / etc. AquaLung (Apeks parent company) has been having a real hard time financially the last few years. They've been bought and sold a few times now and it wouldn't been extremely shocking to see them bought up and absorbed by other companies in the the next 10 years. Probably still be able to get parts for these online but then the issue becomes of finding a service center to work on them.

 

[JC12]

I very little hands on knowledge of Poseidon's so I won't comment on them at all but I can give you a quick Pro's & cons of Apeks XTX50's

Pros:

Quality material: I've worked on a lot of these and short of previous technician mistakes (scratching inside of 1st stage balance plug) & user error (flooding 1st stage and letting it sit for long periods to corroded & dropping of regulator set / rough handling) I see almost no major components that need to be replaced beyond regular service

Parts for life: As long as you continue to have them inspected regularly (every year) and serviced regularly (at least every other year or 100 dives - which ever comes first) and you keep the owners inspection sheet updated by the shop when you bring it in you will get service parts for life. This will save you ~$100 every time you bring them in for service

Ease of breathing: They breath great as long as you're not trying to provide 3 different divers breathing extremely heavily from the same 1st stage at once you will never over breath these regs

Widely supported service: you can find a dealer / authorized center within an hour drive of most places where there is any decent amount of diving.

Specifically for sidemount: The seat / crow are very solid and even after 2 years since last service and hundreds of dives the IP on these is really solid. No worries of a small IP creep leading to a slow leak from a 2nd stage


Cons:

Price: enough said

long term support: Small chance of parent company being sold again in the near(ish) future or the whole Apeks & AquaLung brand going the way of Dacor / U.S Divers / Seaquest / etc. AquaLung (Apeks parent company) has been having a real hard time financially the last few years. They've been bought and sold a few times now and it wouldn't been extremely shocking to see them bought up and absorbed by other companies in the the next 10 years. Probably still be able to get parts for these online but then the issue becomes of finding a service center to work on them.

Thank you so much for great info about XTX50.

 

[tbone1004]

Hello

I'm having hard time to make decision about which reg I should buy.
Right now, it's between Poseidon Xstream and Apeks XTX50.

There is alot of reveiws/videos about XTX50, but about Xstream is more than 3 years old revewis.

I'm SM beginner diver and typically I'm diving cavern/cave in Mexico.
My instructor recommened XTX50 which is very command and easy to get service. And also because Xtream 1.stage is lack of turret so I'll have problem when hose is bended. Even if I adjust with adopter, it will be problem.
I see that problem for long hose(right) side, when I have to perform f.x S-drill

I will not sevice them by myself, know the shop they can service both og them.

Can you help here guy? it will be VERY appreciated.

Thank you.

The Poseidon regulators are undoubtedly a better made regulator, and better performing, but we are well beyond splitting hairs. Purchasing Apeks regulators in the USA is irritating because they are ridiculously expensive but seeing that you're in Europe you're in a different market. I can not in good conscience recommend anyone in the US purchase Apeks regulators as we have much better options for significantly less money available to us.

The XTX50 with the 5th port is perfectly fine for sidemount, you won't be "wanting" for anything else from another regulator and you have relatively cheap access to them in Europe.
The bending issue with lack of turret is not really a problem for most sidemount diving, though if you are doing vertical work the left tank is actually a bit of a problem since you can't stow the hoses nice and pretty. The right tank is not an issue in reality for in-water issues.

The Xstream is a different beast, it breathes unlike anything else and you either love it or hate it. I personally love them and I still dive Poseidon Jetstream second stages on Deep6 Signature first stages for sidemount, but I would not recommend that to most divers.

As much as I love Poseidon and have no love for the Aqualung group, in your specific circumstance I think you are probably best off going with the Apeks for this one. Poseidon is a hair too far out in the fringe unless your "group" is already using them

 

[JC12]

The Poseidon regulators are undoubtedly a better made regulator, and better performing, but we are well beyond splitting hairs. Purchasing Apeks regulators in the USA is irritating because they are ridiculously expensive but seeing that you're in Europe you're in a different market. I can not in good conscience recommend anyone in the US purchase Apeks regulators as we have much better options for significantly less money available to us.

The XTX50 with the 5th port is perfectly fine for sidemount, you won't be "wanting" for anything else from another regulator and you have relatively cheap access to them in Europe.
The bending issue with lack of turret is not really a problem for most sidemount diving, though if you are doing vertical work the left tank is actually a bit of a problem since you can't stow the hoses nice and pretty. The right tank is not an issue in reality for in-water issues.

The Xstream is a different beast, it breathes unlike anything else and you either love it or hate it. I personally love them and I still dive Poseidon Jetstream second stages on Deep6 Signature first stages for sidemount, but I would not recommend that to most divers.

As much as I love Poseidon and have no love for the Aqualung group, in your specific circumstance I think you are probably best off going with the Apeks for this one. Poseidon is a hair too far out in the fringe unless your "group" is already using them

Thank you so much! Probably good idea to buy Apeks now.. but really want to try Xstream in the future.

 

[happy-diver]

What's your rush try Xstream now.. buy either in the future

 

[tbone1004]

Thank you so much! Probably good idea to buy Apeks now.. but really want to try Xstream in the future.

get one for your O2 bottle so you can get a feel for how they breathe and see if you like it?

 

[JohnN]

Apologies for the thread hijack. I dive HOG D1's (I believe to be an Apex clone) and the only significant knock on them is that the turret has only a single O-ring which can make them unsuitable as a stage bottle.

Does the XTX50 have the same "feature"?

 

[JC12]

get one for your O2 bottle so you can get a feel for how they breathe and see if you like it?

I will try if I can get one of that.

 

[Johnsonsa93]

Apologies for the thread hijack. I dive HOG D1's (I believe to be an Apex clone) and the only significant knock on them is that the turret has only a single O-ring which can make them unsuitable as a stage bottle.

Does the XTX50 have the same "feature"?

The Apeks XTX 50 1st stage has a single O-ring where the turret cap meets the 1st stage body and single O-ring where the 5th port upgrade / balance chamber that holds the turret onto the body (+ the two o-rings for the HP balance chamber).

From memory the only 1st stage I can think of that has 2 o-rings on it's turret would be Atomic. I'm sure there is another one but that is the only one I'm certain of from memory.