AquaIllumination Hydra FiftyTwo HD LED

[frey]

funny you say that. I just took 3 Kessil a360we's off my tank and replaced with the hydra HD's

[drummerboyevil]

Originally Posted by frey

funny you say that. I just took 3 Kessil a360we's off my tank and replaced with the hydra HD's

They are completely different beasts. I prefer kessil for softie/LPS.

[dz6t]

Originally Posted by andrek787

That heat sink can only safely dissipate 135W worth of heat

I am interested in seeing any evidence of this statement.
I have both my Hydra 52 and 26 HD at full power and the heat sinks of Hydra 52 is significantly cooler to touch than the 26.
Is it possible that just AI decided to build this way for marketing reason?

[dz6t]

Originally Posted by kurfer

I'd give anything to swap my 8 Hydra 52's for Kessils. The weak shimmer on the AI is the worst of all the current higher end LED lights.

May be you should switch to 8 AI Hydra 26.
Kessil 360 we is about the same wattage of Hydra 26.

[GimpyFin]

The 26s are driven a little higher wattage-wise than half of a 52. 90w vs. 135w full power. My 52 also ran a little cooler to the touch than the 26 HDs I have now with similar settings. Larger heat sink and less wattage proportionally. I do like the fact that they removed a white and added an extra blue on each puck on the HDs, although I preferred using the director on the non-HD models.

[dz6t]

Agree, the director has more feature that the on board controller of Hydra HD.
I think the Hydra form factor is very well designed and the 52 heat sink can handle more than 135w.
The HD do look better than the non HD version by removing the purplish cast.

[gandolf8]

anyone got a nice program they want to share ? thx.

[cobra2326]

I think it makes a lot more sense to buy 2 26s vs 1 52. Same price, way more flexibility as far as spread, positioning, shading is concerned. The radions don't have the same price points which makes it harder.