ScubaPro MK17/S600 vs. AquaLung Titan LX Supreme

[DA Aquamaster]

2) To be perfectly honest, I think that many divers purchase "top of the line" regs out of hype, maybe a little fear, and some narcissism. Not always, of course, but dive shops and gear manufacturers love those people that simply "have to have the best". For recreational diving there is almost no practical difference between any decent-performing reg. The titan will work great.

I used to service a Mk 25 T for a guy and the first year it came back in with the price tag on the first stage (which was odd as it was never there before it left the shop.) It made it pretty clear that his main reason for buying it, and in effect paying way too much for a less capable titanium reg, was to have a status symbol.

2)3) Forget about the "overbalancing" bit. It's hype. In fact, balancing is highly over-rated as a selling feature for regs. Who would possibly want "unbalanced" when they could have "balanced" even if they have no idea what that means?

+1. Overbalancing = total BS marketing hype.

I agree with this. The nice thing tho, is that sometimes if you're lucky, you can land a really good deal on the "top of the line" regs, perhaps because they aren't selling as fast as the lower priced models or perhaps because the margins are padded a little thicker on the higher priced stuff. It worked out in my favour, I had been planning to buy more Zeagle DSV's for doubles and stages, until my LDS informed me that the Canadian distributor for Zeagle was having a pre Dema sale, and I landed a pair of Flathead VI's for the price of one. If I recall, the DSV discount wasn't the same % reduction as the Flatheads.

I think you are correct as some dealer price lists have a larger margin on the top of the line items. Where the margin may be 90% to 100% on low end or middle market items, it may be 125-130% on high end models. That may be an effort to keep low end models more competitive with other brands, or an incentive to get dealers to sell more high end models - probably both.

 

[aaron9876]

Again, thanks for all the great responses.

In doing some more research I also came across the Oceanic Delta 4. Any experience with Oceanic regs and how they stack up against AquaLung and Scubapro. I was told by one LDS owner that Scubapro and Aqualung are better than any other brands; agree or disagree. I've also heard that Oceanic's customer service really good.

I see it also has a feature that allows you to set the breathing effort on the surface via a control knob and then it will automatically adjust it as depth changes so you don't have to mess with the knob during the dive. Any comments on this (useful or just another thing that could break)?

Also, same questions for this reg as I asked before (how does it perform at depth, in cold water, quality of parts, etc...)

 

[dschonbrun]

Many companies make good regs. LDS's will favor the brands they sell, plain and simple.

The Delta 4 is a solid regulator with good breathing test results and good ergonomics. My guess is the LDS salesperson who was speaking about the Oceanics either didn't know their product line, had a bad experience with an Oceanic product, or didn't sell them.

 

[aaron9876]

Many companies make good regs. LDS's will favor the brands they sell, plain and simple.

The Delta 4 is a solid regulator with good breathing test results and good ergonomics. My guess is the LDS salesperson who was speaking about the Oceanics either didn't know their product line, had a bad experience with an Oceanic product, or didn't sell them.

That's what I would have thought, but they sell Oceanic. (They sell Aqualung, Scubapro, Oceanic, Atomic, Dive Rite, Zeagle, and Sherwood)

 

[keyshunter]

Again, thanks for all the great responses.
I see it also has a feature that allows you to set the breathing effort on the surface via a control knob and then it will automatically adjust it as depth changes so you don't have to mess with the knob during the dive.

Interesting bit of advertising half-truth there. Yes, you set the adjustment knob at the surface. But that is true of every other adjustable (and non-adjustable) second stage. If properly adjusted, it is never necessary to readjust the second stage underwater. The only exception is if one needs to control a rare slight free flow. Of course there are those who have nothing better to do during a dive, so they play with the adjustment.

 

[Blacthorn]

Oceanic makes very good regs, in fact NOAA just recently tested a number of regs and ended up going with the Oceanic for all their divers in cold water. This is not to say that the SP and Aqualung aren't wonderful regs. Heck all three make great regs. Personally I dive SP or Sherwood, but those are just personal preferences. You can't go wrong, in this choice, with these options. I would say go with the one that makes you feel warm and fuzzy the most. So if a company decides to come out with a reg with a teddy bear as the 2nd stage, that would be the best Good luck and dive safe

 

[Jimmer]

Ask your LDS if there is anyway to test dive the 3 and base your choice on which feels best. All are good quality, and reputable companies, so go with whichever one you prefer in the water.

 

[Couv]

While I am not familiar with the Delta 4, generally speaking an external cracking pressure adjustment's function is to allow the diver to make the regulator more/less sensitive if conditions call for it. Primarily when head position changes such as going from a looking forward position to looking straight down. When the mouthpiece is pointing up it is handy feature to detune the second stage if you are taking pictures or hovering over a reef face down. Facing into a current is another time you might want to detune the second stage.

A couple of other things to note about having an external adjustment. The regulator can be tuned at service time for minimum cracking pressure and if a slight free flow develops later one (due to the soft seat taking a set) it is a simple matter of adding a little tension with the knob. While on the subject of soft seat set, when in storage the knob can be set at minimum to give longer life to the seat.

 

[deepblueme]

One of things to look into when picking a reg system is repair ability in locations you are diving.
As in an out of the way spot can you get it fixed (parts avalibity) if need or are you willing to use rental.

 

[Westaussie Crabby]

Cant vouch for the Scubapro, however the titan is a veritable workhorse many schools here in Western Australia use them as student rigs, (the ocean here is not very forgiving as such the gear takes a bit of a bashing) that speaks for itself. I have owned a titan and a titan-lx and they were unfaultable, easy to breathe and very simple in design (I'm sure parts will be available into next century & if you travel there will not be many dive shops that don't carry parts) . I have a Legend rig at the moment which is about to be traded for an Apeks 200xtx, I dive in rivers and from shore and the silty environments have caused me no end of grief with the flow & venturi adjustment knobs (the lx occy venturi knob ceased and snapped) , Apeks is the same setup without all the fancy plastic bits.

aaron9876
In the case of Apeks $100 more gets you better components, better build quality, millions of dollars in engineering, testing, quality control, but most importantly reliability (many armed forces use them as standard equipment) service it regularly and it may very well be the last reg you buy.

The legend can force air, it is designed that way (overbalanced first stage) however this can be manually adjusted down on the regulator (provided the knob is not is not ceased), at depth it is a handy feature, lets you control your breathing effort.

As far as ports, regardless of how many HP ports you need, think about the style of rig you wish to set up, if you wreck or cave dive you may want to go underarm to reduce your profile... that makes the orientation of your first stage ports a very important factor kinked hoses lead to burst hoses.
Sorry I'm not up on the tech jargon can only speak from experience, hope this is of some help.
Cheers,
Crabby