New Radion in early 2013

[Rice Reef]

Got an email from Ecotech today...

"EcoTech Marine announces Radion XR30w Pro LED lighting system
The Radion family of aquarium LED lighting systems just got bigger. EcoTech Marine is pleased to announce the addition of the Radion XR30w Pro, offering professional-level lighting performance for the reef hobbyist.
*
With 42 top-bin LEDs, six control channels, improved PAR ratings and unsurpassed full spectral output, the XR30w Pro is the best Radion ever.
*
The Radion XR30w Pro features:
Seamless integration with the web-based EcoSmart Live controller platform.
Wide light spread with broad spectral coverage, from 405nm (Ultra Violet) to 660nm (Hyper Red).
Efficient and precise light output.
Backward compatibility within the entire Radion line.
“The Radion XR30w Pro is the biggest advance in LED lighting technology since the release of the original Radion,” EcoTech Marine sales director Jay Sperandio said. “From power, spectrum and spread to modularity to control, the Radion XR30w Pro is unsurpassed in the reef aquarium LED lighting marketplace. It's a professional-level lighting system made for home setups.”
*
Priced at $949, the Radion XR30w Pro will begin shipping in early 2013. Pre-orders will be accepted Nov. 1. EcoTech Marine will continue to sell and support the original Radion XR30w. Details of an upgrade path for existing Radion XR30w owners to upgrade their lighting systems with Pro components will be announced in the near future."

Didn't the upgradeable lens kit just came out???
Wonder what the upgrade to the old Radion is gonna cost this time???

[claymax]

probably violet or ultraviolet, and or deep blue. i could see them changing the 730nm hyper red to something closer to a 660nm deep red. and theyll probably be switching the blues and whites to XTEs

[MarkoD]

lol everyone who was going to buy a radion has already bought one.

do they think all these people are just going to sell the previous one for the new more expensive one?

they should have made a smaller model to attract a larger crowd. the people who didnt spend 800 on the first radion, probably wont spend 950 on the new one

[Rice Reef]

New reading on the radions...
http://blog.aquanerd.com/2012/09/eco...-xr30-pro.html

Sounds like there will be three more colors than the current radions and will also come with the TIR lens.

[claymax]

i dont get the pricing, is it really gonna be as good at two vegas?

[Northernseacorals]

Price is a little on the steep side for sure.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

lol everyone who was going to buy a radion has already bought one.

do they think all these people are just going to sell the previous one for the new more expensive one?

they should have made a smaller model to attract a larger crowd. the people who didnt spend 800 on the first radion, probably wont spend 950 on the new one

That's a strange statement.. So everyone that's was going to buy a fish tank has already bought one? So no point building those anymore. Come to think of it I'm sure every manufacturer in the world should just stop producing because obviously if you want something you would have already bought it and new customers don't exist...

There are upgrade kits for people that already have the Radion if they choose to upgrade.

Pretty sure they did pretty good with the Radions, distributors did suggest they sold more than they expected so not sure why they would change their business plan. Perhaps a nano version would be a good addition but that's more investment than the upgraded version.

My guess it's just a few extra LEDs in the same skeleton and controller, hence why they have only 6 controllable channels for 8 colors. I'm sure the plan was always to add and extra channel for UV this year but due to competing products they've figured out how to add a few more colors. I bet in the end it will come out with 9 or 10 colors. Really no different than the hold off with the vega to produce the color unit.

The biggest problem I see with Radions is every time I go into a store that sells them there's a stack of warranty returns sitting on the counter. It seems for the price the quality just isn't there as most Radion owners I know of have had some kind of issue with them. This combined with only 1 year warranty on majority of the guts makes me wonder what will happen to Radion owners in a couple years from now.

[MarkoD]

I think they should have offered a less expensive model that doesn't have the red and greens.

How many "serious" reefers are starting brand new tanks and willing to go out and spend thousands of dollars on LEDs?

The reason radions and other LEDs did so well is because people were switching from halides or t5.

Market has been saturated, the supply is high, the demand is lower, yet the price is higher.

Just doesn't make sense to me.

[Proteus]

Markos right. To go and spend thousands on light is to have them over long term. The people who spent the same on halide and t5 fixtures I would think did so to have a quality light over a period of years. A one year gap is too soon especially since they only offered one model. At least with AI it's a series of models that are have the price already

[reefwars]

ill be buying the new one, im sure ecotech will sell plenty i think you look at it through canadian eyes, theres still plenty of us customers that dont have radions or will simply upgrade