I understood him to mean that price can be misleading. For example, some companies (like HydroGrowLED, aka "scammie Cammie") charge a fortune for what are essentially rebranded Chinese lights. They construct a compelling web page with a lot of "secret sauce" hyperbole, and suddenly a $150 light is sold for $400. The $150 might have been an acceptable value compared to buying a legitimately high-priced light. But, at the inflated price an A51, Hans, Onyx would be a better price. Maybe a Grow Northern (new design using Rebel spectrum).
The learning curve for LEDs is steep. The market isn't uniform (no standard for comparison. California Lightworks, for example, inflates their PAR values with a footnote saying they are "adjusted PAR."). Newbies tend to buy price and hyperbole. They get good results from inflated lights. But, it's unclear if it's the light or the dedication of someone motivated to spend that much on a light. I.e., did they apply the same "spare no expense" to other areas of their grow?
3w or 5w. Reflector (concentration) or white backboard (diffusion). Secondary lenses in addition to primary. But, what I think "pet" was getting at is flux or lumens per watt. An Epi is less expensive than a Cree, but the Cree (particularly the higher bin part numbers) will produce more light per watt.
If you get into that level of detail, it could be possible for you to replace your Apollo's LEDs with any spectrum you want. You could make your own A51 RW light.
Which gets back to the "secret sauce" hyperbole. You'd never know which spectrum to use if lights like A51, Grow Northern, Astir, Onyx, et. al. didn't publish the exact spectrum they use. A51 even publishes the part numbers of the Crees and drivers they use. When you buy a "secret sauce" light, you invest money without being able to assess *where you are*. You can't make informed choices about how that light compares to another "secret sauce" light because neither of them tell you how much blue, red, white, etc. It's just a shot in the dark if you try various of these lights. You might find one that works well, but you'd never know if it's because of it's ratio of red to deep red, etc.
For me, I stay away from any light that doesn't publish its spectrum/ratio. Unless it's a direct-from-Factory deal which eliminates the Cammie middleman. For example, at TopLED's prices I could buy one even though they play the "secret spectrum" game too. A balancing act (principle vs. pragmatism).
If your spydr covers a 4x4 foot space and it costs 1,000, isnt that more expensive than the 150 per light cost of the Apollo? Wasnt that some of the "good things" about the Apollo?
