Advice on a regulator

[Ozwald]

Ya know....I bought a pair of the "lower priced" regs that people have raved about. I won't mention the brand name but man did I realize the differences between those and my Halcyon H75's/Halo's and Apeks Tek3's/XTX50's. There is a significant difference between the name brands such as the ones I mentioned and perhaps a "chineese knockoff".

Do yourself a favour and buy quality, yes more expensive, than settling and pretending.

 

[stargost]

It is a very good choice, and will be ok in cold water.
You have cheaper ones (like HOG) or more expensive ones (Atomic or Scubapro/Halcyon). All are great choices.
If you plan to add a wireless probe for AI computer, the xtx50 may be paired with a first stage which only has 1 HP output, so it could be a limitation to check.

Get a DIN version, as one good thing with Apeks is the conversion to yoke is very easy and the adapter is cheap and widely available.

Hi my fellow divers. I'm kind of new to diving, only have 14 dives logged, and was thinking of buying my first regulator. I don't go diving all the time, so far the plan has been about once a year at dive resorts (going to Roatan in March) and Live aboards. The one I thought might be appropriate for my level of diving was Apeks XTX50. I would like to start diving with Nitrox so that's important, and I do plan on continuing with my diving, especially if I can get my partner to start diving with me. What do you all think? Is this a good choice giving my diving patterns? Is there something equivalent with a lower price point?

 

[elan]

If you plan to ever dive in cold water, that probably isn't the best choice. From what I have heard, they are prone to free flow in cold water.

Some one pulled a joke on you. Its one of the best regs for the cold water. The only one that I have ever tried which handles the cold better is USD RAM/DAAM but this will unlikely work for the OP

For the OP:
XTX50 is the name of the second stage only. Check what comes as the first stage. DS4 has only one high pressure port if it matters. DST can be converted to have the 5th port

 

[elan]

Ya know....I bought a pair of the "lower priced" regs that people have raved about. I won't mention the brand name but man did I realize the differences between those and my Halcyon H75's/Halo's and Apeks Tek3's/XTX50's. There is a significant difference between the name brands such as the ones I mentioned and perhaps a "chineese knockoff".

Do yourself a favour and buy quality, yes more expensive, than settling and pretending.

I came to the same conclusion after having Tek3 and ATX 50 regs. Its one time investment. You spend more on service overtime so better have the proven reg even if its a bit more expensive

 

[seafox69]

I have been diving for 43 years(and over 7800 dives)and have used Mares regulators for the whole time. I was an instructor in Southern California for over 17 years. have dove most everywhere in the world and taught beach diving in Socal and never had a problem with any of my Mares regs. I have used other regs but when I taught classes or went on trips I always use my Mares. Now have an Abyss.

 

[buddhasummer]

As has been previously mentioned XTX50 comes with either DS4, no swivel, 1 HP or DST, swivel, 2 HP. Both are fine for cold water use as are sealed. I use Apeks, FSR/XTX50s and DS4/ATX40s. For single tank diving I prefer the hose routing on the FSR. Breathing cannot tell the difference between them. I like them because I can get service kits, are relatively easy to service and all 1st and 2nds use the same service kit and they are nice breathers. When traveling I carry a 1st and 2nd stage service kit. If you have any relatives in the EU buy from Scubastore their prices are much cheaper, from what I've seen, than the US. Good luck.