S620 Ti or A700...?

[Casper Rønhof]

Hey guys I can't decide witch one to buy

I'm going on a 11 week trip to Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia where i will take my divemaster along the way and will be doing somewhere between 150 - 200 dives so I want my own Reg..

I'm planning to start diving at home (Denmark) after this trip where the water is cold.. only a few degrees in the winter.. but the majority of use will probably be in warm water...

Mk 25 Evo + 620 Ti

Or

Mk 25 Evo + A700 Carbon Black Tech

I would appreciate some inputs and opinions...

 

[outofofficebrb]

Will you ever go tech or use high % blends of oxygen? If so, go with the A700 since titanium will be a no go for that. If you're going to go A700, I would suggest going MK17 (diaphragm) instead of MK25 (piston). I think it will be better in the long run for the purpose of silt/sediment and cold water. The physical environmental sealing is better in a diaphragm reg than piston. I also don't think you could go wrong with a MK17 S600. I don't think you will get substantial additional performance for the price premium of the A700. Sure, in lab testing, there's a difference, but they are still excellent regs. I doubt you will be at depth with the S600 struggling with it thinking you should have gone A700. It's a solid reg.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

I have Mk 25 Evo + 620 Ti and absolutely love it.

I used it last month for a Deep Dive certification and few dives to 40 mtrs and few to 33 - 35mtrs and it was breathing like a charm.

You may want to go over the below thread if you want to see how the others have already mulled this topic over 10 years ago.

Scubapro MK17 vs MK25

Just something which stands out for me in terms of functionality: MK 17 does not have a swivel turret which I find extremely useful in the MK25. But, the MK25 also does have a larger profile behind your head.

I'm assuming you're going to be using this regulator for recreational diving and even if you were to use it for higher percentages of Nitrox, I am sure you won't be using this for Deco gas. S620 Ti is rated up to EAN 40 so as long as you follow the guidelines and proper equipment maintenance I don't see any issues there.

 

[Casper Rønhof]

It's for recreational diving at the moment.. I have both deep and nitrox..
I'm planning to try some technical diving in the future but could I use the A700 for technical diving?

 

[Ankush Mittal]

It's for recreational diving at the moment.. I have both deep and nitrox..
I'm planning to try some technical diving in the future but could I use the A700 for technical diving?

Yes, you can use either A700 or S620 for a nitrox mix up with up to 40% Oxygen out of the box which would be the highest amount of nitrox you would be diving with for the bottom gas. For mixes with oxygen percentage higher than that for example your deco bottle, I would recommend using dedicated Regulators which are made rated for up to 100% oxygen, and as you enter into the tech diving part of it you will see that you will need more than one regulator in your arsenal, so what you buy now will not effect your decisions later.

If you do get into tech there are considerations you need to keep in mind with things like sidemount diving. If that is something you want to pursue there are different requirements which may become important to you, for example a first stage with a swivel turret or owning different second stages so you can identify them by feel without looking for added safety.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I think the TI in the 620TI is the air barrel and other 2nd stage parts.

So you are on the low pressure side of the reg and the material choices are much less critical there.

 

[stuartv]

Everybody at my shop that has tried them prefers the Mk 25 + G260 combo over the S600/S620 or the A700.

The S600/620 would definitely be my 3rd choice of those options. But, that is based on what I've been told by my friends/colleagues that have tried all 3. I have never tried any of them, myself.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

Everybody at my shop that has tried them prefers the Mk 25 + G260 combo over the S600/S620 or the A700.

The S600/620 would definitely be my 3rd choice of those options. But, that is based on what I've been told by my friends/colleagues that have tried all 3. I have never tried any of them, myself.

EDIT: Ignore everything in italics that is indented.

Thats quite surprising as S600/S620 is definitely a better Second Stage and the G260 is the standard octopus in most Scubapro Regulator packages, such as mine, I have tried the G260 at different depths to test its performance and also to ensure its working fine from time to time to ensure its functioning in case required by me or my buddy and I have found that the S620 I have breathes much smoother than the G260.

But, while having said that it is very much likely that your friends/colleagues have tested in different conditions than me and have different things guiding their preferences.​

I would highly suggest the OP to try out both at a Scubapro shop and then make their decision.

 

[stuartv]

Thats quite surprising as S600/S620 is definitely a better Second Stage and the G260 is the standard octopus in most Scubapro Regulator packages, such as mine, I have tried the G260 at different depths to test its performance and also to ensure its working fine from time to time to ensure its functioning in case required by me or my buddy and I have found that the S620 I have breathes much smoother than the G260..

Why do you say the S600 is "better"? Just because it's more expensive? I don't recall seeing the G260 as the standard octo on anything, but I could be wrong. I thought the R195 was the "standard" octo on SP reg sets.

I think the G260 body is bigger, so it holds more air in the body itself. Perhaps that is why those people have told me that it breathes better. More air reservoir right there to pull from.

Perhaps the S600 is more expensive because it's more compact - not because it breathes better. And the A700 is even more expensive because it's even more compact and it's all metal.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

Why do you say the S600 is "better"? Just because it's more expensive? I don't recall seeing the G260 as the standard octo on anything, but I could be wrong. I thought the R195 was the "standard" octo on SP reg sets

I have never really bothered with what model my Octopus was (it is in fact like you said an R195) so I made a grave mistake in my opinion above.

In fact, I have NOT tried the G260 and I am going to edit my comment above to reflect that.

A quick search on google and on this board itself reveals that like while the airflow is marginally better in the S620 and the more compact and light weight design may make it more comfortable and thereby improving air consumption, the internal parts are virtually the same, so my opinion still would be to try both if possible and then only make a decision. Either way the S620 TI is not that much more expensive than the G260.

The breathing on the S620 Ti being so smooth in its own, I would love to try the G260 sometime in the future if as you say the breathing is better, should be amazing.

Based on the reviews of the S620 and the fact I could not try one before buying, I chose to go with the S620 TI + MK25 Evo and no regrets with about 50 dives on it so far. Cheers. Apologies for the confusion.