Defective_Weeble
Salty
Now that the AP700 has been in the hands of hobbyists for a few days, we're starting to see the think pieces come out. The latest, and the one that prompted this writing, is from Jeremy Gosnell of reefs.com, which you can read here.
As a former owner of three A360we lights, I've been a fan of the look and performance of Kessil lights for quite some time. That said, I have never thought that they were the "best" LED lighting option on the market. In my opinion, that title still belongs to the Radion Pro. I bought the Kessil lights because I preferred the look and they met the budget constraints that I set for myself.
I can tell you from my own experience that the hatred that gets tossed at Kessil is largely unwarranted. Those who will decry the light's "inability" to grow and color SPS have either not used them or simply had bad planning or husbandry. In my 180 gallon reef, I did nothing but change the water. With proper rock placement to avoid the shadowing pitfalls of point-source lighting, I saw absolutely stellar growth and coloration, turning small frags into modest colonies in short order.
But back to the subject at hand...
On the subject of AP700 performance, Gosnell states that the "AP700 will light a 48” x 24” reef, but coral health will remain in-tact only if the species kept are soft and low light LPS corals.". However, he does so after claiming that the AP700 is "essentially two Kessil A360W lights packed into one fixture." If that's the case, then I can tell you from first-hand experience that the AP700 will perform excellently on a 48x24, SPS-dominant reef because that's exactly what I ran with two 360we models lights until just a few days ago.
But that's not to say that Kessil's launch of the AP700 has been flawless. Far from it, in fact. There are many missteps. Given that I actually own the light, unlike many who are writing about it, I thought that I would talk about those missteps here and open a forum for intelligent discussion rather than dagger throwing.
Pricing
Gosnell's price-per-puck standard that he sets in the reefs.com article is foolish. The BRS launch video on the Kessil 360 attempted to focus on price-per-LED. I think that's a stronger argument, but still doesn't tell the right story.
The fact is, a "puck" could be two LEDs. Or it could be 500 LEDs. But what quality are the LEDs that make up the puck? If we're going by puck count, it's an invalidated argument simple because there's no standard set that says that a puck is X number of individual LEDs. If we're going by number of LEDs then Orphek fixtures would look like a bargain.
That said, Kessil's choice to price the AP700 at $849, a full $100 more than the industry-leading Radion Pro, is baffling. The value simply hasn't been built enough to justify the price point, no matter how lovely and heartwarming The Envelope video may have been.
The worst thing that a manufacturer can do is compete on price alone. The second worst thing that a manufacturer can do is not compete on price at all.
Mounting Options
The second, massive misstep in my opinion is the lack of good mounting options for the AP700. But this has been Kessil's method in the past as well. While the gooseneck and 90-degree adapter leave a nice looking mounting option for the 360, there is no cord management and the overall look is still messy.
Kessil is promising a rails system, for tanks where the light can sit lower. There's also a bracket system promised, for tanks where the light needs to be higher (tanks over 36 inches). Both of these should have been available at launch, rather than forcing those of us who don't have a canopy to drill into our ceilings or walls.
Software
I've worked in technology for quite a few years, and my background is in product marketing. To release a light that can only be controlled by a single device is foolish. But if you're going to do so, then it needs to be the most widely-used device. That being the case, Kessil should have launched the AP700 with software for iPhone or Android phones. Instead, as of today we only have software for the iPad.
If Gosnell's assertion that the price premium for the AP700 is tied to the control software, then this misstep is even more grave than it might seem at first. It's danged near suicidal, in fact, considering that Kessil's own words tell me that they "do not need a beta tester yet" for the iPhone application. That means that the development of the app is significantly further behind than what most of us would like to believe.
In Summary
Yes, Kessil did some things wrong. At least in my opinion. So then why did I still buy one? The biggest reason is that the majority of the purchase price was offset by selling my 360s. If I was starting from zero, I'd have a really hard time justifying the price on the AP700.
As a customer, I'm infuriated by the lack of programming software and not having a good mounting option. But I'm also incredibly happy with what I've seen from the light in the short time that I've owned it. Whatever the differences in the pucks between this and the 360we, my corals are responding better to this light. Maybe it's optics, maybe it's different LEDs in the puck or maybe it's something else entirely. I don't yet know. All I know is what I can see, and that is a light that I love the look of, while my corals seem to enjoy it as well.
As a former owner of three A360we lights, I've been a fan of the look and performance of Kessil lights for quite some time. That said, I have never thought that they were the "best" LED lighting option on the market. In my opinion, that title still belongs to the Radion Pro. I bought the Kessil lights because I preferred the look and they met the budget constraints that I set for myself.
I can tell you from my own experience that the hatred that gets tossed at Kessil is largely unwarranted. Those who will decry the light's "inability" to grow and color SPS have either not used them or simply had bad planning or husbandry. In my 180 gallon reef, I did nothing but change the water. With proper rock placement to avoid the shadowing pitfalls of point-source lighting, I saw absolutely stellar growth and coloration, turning small frags into modest colonies in short order.
But back to the subject at hand...
On the subject of AP700 performance, Gosnell states that the "AP700 will light a 48” x 24” reef, but coral health will remain in-tact only if the species kept are soft and low light LPS corals.". However, he does so after claiming that the AP700 is "essentially two Kessil A360W lights packed into one fixture." If that's the case, then I can tell you from first-hand experience that the AP700 will perform excellently on a 48x24, SPS-dominant reef because that's exactly what I ran with two 360we models lights until just a few days ago.
But that's not to say that Kessil's launch of the AP700 has been flawless. Far from it, in fact. There are many missteps. Given that I actually own the light, unlike many who are writing about it, I thought that I would talk about those missteps here and open a forum for intelligent discussion rather than dagger throwing.
Pricing
Gosnell's price-per-puck standard that he sets in the reefs.com article is foolish. The BRS launch video on the Kessil 360 attempted to focus on price-per-LED. I think that's a stronger argument, but still doesn't tell the right story.
The fact is, a "puck" could be two LEDs. Or it could be 500 LEDs. But what quality are the LEDs that make up the puck? If we're going by puck count, it's an invalidated argument simple because there's no standard set that says that a puck is X number of individual LEDs. If we're going by number of LEDs then Orphek fixtures would look like a bargain.
That said, Kessil's choice to price the AP700 at $849, a full $100 more than the industry-leading Radion Pro, is baffling. The value simply hasn't been built enough to justify the price point, no matter how lovely and heartwarming The Envelope video may have been.
The worst thing that a manufacturer can do is compete on price alone. The second worst thing that a manufacturer can do is not compete on price at all.
Mounting Options
The second, massive misstep in my opinion is the lack of good mounting options for the AP700. But this has been Kessil's method in the past as well. While the gooseneck and 90-degree adapter leave a nice looking mounting option for the 360, there is no cord management and the overall look is still messy.
Kessil is promising a rails system, for tanks where the light can sit lower. There's also a bracket system promised, for tanks where the light needs to be higher (tanks over 36 inches). Both of these should have been available at launch, rather than forcing those of us who don't have a canopy to drill into our ceilings or walls.
Software
I've worked in technology for quite a few years, and my background is in product marketing. To release a light that can only be controlled by a single device is foolish. But if you're going to do so, then it needs to be the most widely-used device. That being the case, Kessil should have launched the AP700 with software for iPhone or Android phones. Instead, as of today we only have software for the iPad.
If Gosnell's assertion that the price premium for the AP700 is tied to the control software, then this misstep is even more grave than it might seem at first. It's danged near suicidal, in fact, considering that Kessil's own words tell me that they "do not need a beta tester yet" for the iPhone application. That means that the development of the app is significantly further behind than what most of us would like to believe.
In Summary
Yes, Kessil did some things wrong. At least in my opinion. So then why did I still buy one? The biggest reason is that the majority of the purchase price was offset by selling my 360s. If I was starting from zero, I'd have a really hard time justifying the price on the AP700.
As a customer, I'm infuriated by the lack of programming software and not having a good mounting option. But I'm also incredibly happy with what I've seen from the light in the short time that I've owned it. Whatever the differences in the pucks between this and the 360we, my corals are responding better to this light. Maybe it's optics, maybe it's different LEDs in the puck or maybe it's something else entirely. I don't yet know. All I know is what I can see, and that is a light that I love the look of, while my corals seem to enjoy it as well.
