Hello OP,
I am with the people who are advocating Hollis and Oceanic. Yeah, they are the Ford of Scuba equipment. You know, Ford does have some good stats for its products since the Board snaked Alan Mulally from Boeing. Maybe Ford isn't such a bad comparison.
"SP-5 Sport Piston First Stage
The SP-5 offers all divers the opportunity to own a top-performing regulator at an unbeatable price. Repeatedly rated as the best in its class, the Alpha SP-5 exceeds both Navy Class A and European CE standards. The Alpha SP-5 may have been the first regulator you ever used due to its widespread use in rental and resort operations. "
Mil Spec is good enough for me. Every time I have tried to freak myself out and then do a practice pony bottle ascent, I have breathed real nicely off the SP-5. The SP-5 is available in Yoke or Din.
I have been in quite a few hairy ass situations in my life, and I have always managed to drop my heart rate and think my way out of the crappy stuff. Hopefully, with continued contingency-plan practice, I will react as I have in the past when the crap hits the fan while u/w. If you are freaking out u/w anytime, you may want to rethink your choice of avocations.
I have a Hollis second stage. It is necklaced. I have faith that it will respond well if needed.
I have owned one crappy first stage and several crappy second stages. The first stage had a casting flaw that was propagating. The second stages all chattered. They were Mares. Notwithstanding crappy workmanship and performance, they delivered gas when I needed it. Sometimes they free flowed (I considered those situations to be good because they still delivered the gas).
My advice: Buy a reg that has been around a while, and has a decent reputation. Don't worry about the Ford vs. Chevy vs. MB vs. BMW vs. Toyota BS.
Is Navy Seal Mil Spec good enough for you? It is good enough for me.
markm
PS: Don't beat-up your pony bottle reg, and for god sakes get is serviced with OEM parts by a competent and trained mechanic. (Oceanic and Hollis have a great parts service guarantee--unlike SP).