Sadly, it seems to be getting worse. I'm going to try and re-calibrate it tonight because its driving me nuts to see it at 8.4+.
One of my favourite things about MHs is the infamous "shimmer", and really what I'm hoping for from these LEDs is to a) light my tank for my tang, and b) decide if I can live without my "shimmer". Plus, they were f-r-e-e so its kind of hard to say no. I'm looking at "reef appropriate" lighting right now, but the price is such a downer.
The price of new reef equipment has definitely gone up in the last few years. What bothers me is that it seems that a lot of stuff has become more high-tech, or high priced, but it seems like being more energy efficient has fallen off the wagon. To me Tibet is a long term investment with a daily ongoing maintenance cost, and things like energy efficiency is really important for me. Sorry, rant of frustration there.