What Reg to buy? Mk17 s600 or xtx50

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jn4696

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Wanted to ask peoples opinion on what regulator is better.

I'm looking to buy one of them and will use it in cold waters diving in the UK and also on holiday wherever I may be traveling to.

The scubapro mk17 first stage with s600 second stage.
OR
Apeks xtx50 DST first stage with xtx50 second stage.

Not really talking about price, more about which is better overall and the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Any advice and reasons for your choice would be appreciated, thanks in advance.
 
Wanted to ask peoples opinion on what regulator is better.

I'm looking to buy one of them and will use it in cold waters diving in the UK and also on holiday wherever I may be traveling to.

The scubapro mk17 first stage with s600 second stage.
OR
Apeks xtx50 DST first stage with xtx50 second stage.

Not really talking about price, more about which is better overall and the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Any advice and reasons for your choice would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

Why I'm not convinced of the MK17 1st stage, I explained for example in the thread

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/449842-aqualung-legend-lx-vs-scubapro-mk25-a700.html

Why I cannot really recommend older models of the APEKS 2nd stages, I explained in the thread

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/483243-who-knows-apeks-stuff.html

If you would go for a after 2012 XTX50 model, I would recommend the APEKS.

Good luck!:)
 
You said price is not a factor so here is my opinion. They are both great regs with one small substitution. Ditch the S600 and go with the G260, much better reg and less money to boot. I had a MK17/G250 combo and never had an issue with it in cold water or under the ice. I have no direct experience with the Apeks but I now dive what some would call a cheep Chinese knock off of the Apeks design and have not had an issue yet.
 
both should work just fine for you. if you go scubapro, the a700 2nd stage is really nice. some people prefer the ds4 first stage for apeks. apeks is from the UK if that makes a difference to you. i dive a xtx50 setup personally, no complaints.
 
I'm with Aqua Andy, I think the G260 is the better choice if you would want the SP regulator and I think it is better than the XTX50 .

It's the first SP 2nd stage since ten to fifteen years that convinces me. The components are excellent, the design is sort of simplified and seems to be stronger (exhaust valve cover and Venturi knob).

The rest is the proven G250 technique, I like it.

If you should choose the after 2012 model , I still would go for the APEKS, not for practical reasons (you would probably not feel any difference while diving one of those), but because I don't like the idea that SP gets away with building substandard membrane 1st stages like the MK17 or MK11.
 
I love my Apeks regs. Between my wife and I we have 6 sets of them and a few HOG's . Two are XTX 50's for sidemount. They are great breathing regs with good track records and able to tolerate a fair amount of abuse. If you can see yourself buying more regs in the future then Apeks is the way to go, especially come service time.
 
I have no direct experience with the Apeks but I now dive what some would call a cheep Chinese knock off of the Apeks design and have not had an issue yet.

I have some experience with Apeks regs, and like them a lot. Recently I have been diving one of those cheap Chinese (actually Taiwanese) knockoff second stages (even though Chris never sent me the T-shirt he promised) coupled with a Titan first stage. When I received that second stage, I took it completely apart and found it to be a very robust knockoff of the Apeks ATX second. I like it a lot too.
 
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I have some experience with Apeks regs, and like them a lot. Recently I have been diving one of those cheap Chinese knockoff second stages (even though Chris never sent me the T-shirt he promised) coupled with a Titan first stage. When I received that second stage, I took it completely apart and found it to be a very robust knockoff of the Apeks second. I like it a lot too.

Chinese or Taiwanese :)? There is a difference.
 
Thanks for the replies, I should have mentioned before that the reason I said price isn't really an issue is because I have found a very good deal on both of them which means I would either be picking the mk17 s600 with r195 octo or xtx50 with xtx50 octo. I think they are both the newest models of both.

The apeks is slightly more expensive but I'm thinking now that it may be worth it. I wouldn't go for the g260 I don't think, because it is significantly more money than both of the other options.

Im aware that the xtx50 octo is better than the r195 but I'm really just trying to decide between the first and 2nd stages.
 
Thanks for the replies, I should have mentioned before that the reason I said price isn't really an issue is because I have found a very good deal on both of them which means I would either be picking the mk17 s600 with r195 octo or xtx50 with xtx50 octo. I think they are both the newest models of both.

The apeks is slightly more expensive but I'm thinking now that it may be worth it. I wouldn't go for the g260 I don't think, because it is significantly more money than both of the other options.

Im aware that the xtx50 octo is better than the r195 but I'm really just trying to decide between the first and 2nd stages.

The XTX50 "octo" is definitely worth it. You get the cracking effort adjustment so you can detune it when not in use and still switch back to the lower cracking effort setting when you need it. This is particularly important if you decide to go for the DIR/Long hose setup where the "octo" becomes your secondary regulator which you will actually be using when you donate your primary (main-long hose) regulator.
 

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