Scubapro S600 vs A700

[flyboy107@gmail.com]

So, I was planning on either pairing a S600 or a A700 with a mk25. I live in the midwest and do about 25% of my diving in cold water, such as ice dives. If anyone has these regs, let me know what you like/dislike about them. Also I personally like the look of each, so looks are not the issue

 

[buddhasummer]

If you want an answer to this I would suggest you move it out of "Intovas" forum and into "Equipment" "Regulators".

 

[DevonDiver]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Moved to Diving Equipment: Regulators.

For the OP: Intova is a torch manufacturer.

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[tstormdiver]

From my experience, the S600 still blows away the A700. Even though they have basically the same "guts", the S600 still breathes easier. The S600 is also lighter (a little less jaw fatigue). However, the metal casing of the A700 may be a bit better at preventing icing in cold water, than the S600's plastic casing.

 

[flyboy107@gmail.com]

Sorry guys, I accidentally hit intova and didn't notice, lol

 

[cbrich]

If you are planning to do ice diving, I would recommend the MK17 first stage.

<----- Do I really need to say which second stage I would recommend. The jaw fatigue that was mentioned is completely bogus. The longest dive I have to date on my A700s is about 130+ minutes. I have never once thought "man my jaw is getting sore from holding this reg in my mouth." If this was the case, I would also have a neck fatigue because of the A700 on my necklace, and the A700 in my mouth.

You will be happy with either second stage. I bought the A700 purely because of the bling factor, and I was one of first people in Austin to own one; the MK25/S600 is what sold me on Scubapro regs. Now I am glad I went with the A700 because of the durability factor. My reg has hit concrete many times, and it has the scares to show for it, ie a dented from cover, and scratches galore. But I am not saying the S600 won't be as durable, I just don't know.

So either second stage you will be very pleased with.

 

[flyboy107@gmail.com]

i think the MK17 A700 combo will be what i go with, and i never get jaw fatigue, i currently use some really old us divers regs, cant remember the names, they kinda look like the G250V, and ive never had a jaw issue, lol

 

[a22shady]

If your planning on doing cold water diving I would loose the MK25 as it is more likel to free flow. Look more into the MK17 is an awesome 1st stage and it's diagphram reg so no water or debris can enter. Also same goes for the S600 if diving cold water or having plans to I would go with the G250V which IMO is a better breather amd more reliable than both. In cold water the S600 will free flow a lot more easier. If you set on those 2 I would take the A700 only becuase its a better reg for cold water.

Also if your not sld on the Brand you can look into the HOG line of cold water regs which from what I heard perform just as well at 1/2 the price. ANother option is the Atomic M1's which I also dive and they too have worked perfectly.

 

[James R]

I disagree with tstorm's reply.

1) I have the MK17/A700 for my recreational rig. Longest dive on it is nearly 120min...not once did I ever have "jaw fatigue" (whatever that is).

2) The A700 breathes just as well as the S600. I have both! The difference here is how it's tuned by the last person to service it. I can make either of them breathe like a dream or like a a total pile of crap.

Agreed for ice diving, the Mk17 is the way to go.

In my opinion, the MK25/A700 AND MK17/A700 or S600 with either breathe easier than any HOG reg I have tried, despite a good amount of tuning trying to even them out. They also breathe better than my Dive Rite regs, despite even more effort trying to get them tuned better.

 

[CPH]

The A700 has the lowest breathing resistance of ANY reg on the market. Contact Scubapro for the bench tests.
I have an A700 primary and S555 second (same as the S600 with out the volume control) and they both breath great from a normal divers point of view. Only a deep DEEP diver will notice the A700 being a slightly better breath.