Amare SP900's

GOT_BUD? · Jan 19, 2017

Anyone using them?

Searching the net turned up a couple people using them with great success. Just wanted to know if anyone here was using them.

I'll probably end up using three of these in a new grow in the coming months.

Finally going to be growing again after a 10 year self imposed hiatus. And am really starting to get excited.

Dion · Jan 22, 2017

pet will be along shortly to sell this to you

honestly though its over priced and not a great product

you can do much much much better for less

Phaeton · Jan 22, 2017

Amare uses an almost identical spectrum as Perfect Sun does, only with more choices.
I use the "Dwarf Star" because of its light output, three different white LEDs surrounded by monowave supplement LEDs, same as Amare. Four each at $389 and 230 w is 920 watts for 1556 dollars. Very nice coverage with four of them.
Amare SP900 comes in with 900 watts for $1800 at the vendor I use.
I also own three Black Dog 400 watt units at $1200 each. Their wider beams go in the center for good overlap, they play well with others.

I use several other brands as well, but the Black Dog and Dwarf Star are my favorite feed lamps.

Black Dog per watt: $3

Amare per watt: $2

Dwarf Star per watt: $1.7

Black Dog is among the higher priced groups while Dwarf Star is among the least expensive.
Amare seems to be in the less expensive group. Hardly overpricing considering what the equivalent competition is doing. Perfect Sun (Dwarf Star's parent) has a lensed version similar to Amare but it, surprise surprise, costs $2.09 per watt.
Right there with Amare.

I cannot find any excuse not to use Amare, unless like me, much time and money has already been invested in a working system with many years of service left.

I am doing the changeover to white LED with supplementmental monowave, but with five to ten year lives on the lights it is a slow change.
And with a five to ten year life on the lights, initial cost is not the determining factor, it is a minor factor.

GOT_BUD? · Jan 22, 2017

Phaeton said:
Amare uses an almost identical spectrum as Perfect Sun does, only with more choices.
I use the "Dwarf Star" because of its light output, three different white LEDs surrounded by monowave supplement LEDs, same as Amare. Four each at $389 and 230 w is 920 watts for 1556 dollars. Very nice coverage with four of them.
Amare SP900 comes in with 900 watts for $1800 at the vendor I use.
I also own three Black Dog 400 watt units at $1200 each. Their wider beams go in the center for good overlap, they play well with others.

I use several other brands as well, but the Black Dog and Dwarf Star are my favorite feed lamps.

Black Dog per watt: $3

Amare per watt: $2

Dwarf Star per watt: $1.7

Black Dog is among the higher priced groups while Dwarf Star is among the least expensive.
Amare seems to be in the less expensive group. Hardly overpricing considering what the equivalent competition is doing. Perfect Sun (Dwarf Star's parent) has a lensed version similar to Amare but it, surprise surprise, costs $2.09 per watt.
Right there with Amare.

I cannot find any excuse not to use Amare, unless like me, much time and money has already been invested in a working system with many years of service left.

I am doing the changeover to white LED with supplementmental monowave, but with five to ten year lives on the lights it is a slow change.
And with a five to ten year life on the lights, initial cost is not the determining factor, it is a minor factor.

That right there is what I keep coming back to. I didn't go so far as to break down as you have so eloquently done (Thank you btw). But I'm starting a new grow, fresh from the ground up, and I can't find a compelling reason not to use them. It's like they've hit the nail right on the head. I'm just one to not be an early adaptor. I like using tried and true equipment, especially when spending $6,000 on 3 lights.

I think I just need to take a deep breath, and pull the trigger on exhale.

Dion - I have no want, will or desire to build my own. I deal with this stuff (electronics) all day at work. The last thing I want to do is deal with building stuff at home when I could be growing.

Dion · Jan 23, 2017

GOT_BUD? said:
That right there is what I keep coming back to. I didn't go so far as to break down as you have so eloquently done (Thank you btw). But I'm starting a new grow, fresh from the ground up, and I can't find a compelling reason not to use them. It's like they've hit the nail right on the head. I'm just one to not be an early adaptor. I like using tried and true equipment, especially when spending $6,000 on 3 lights.

I think I just need to take a deep breath, and pull the trigger on exhale.

Dion - I have no want, will or desire to build my own. I deal with this stuff (electronics) all day at work. The last thing I want to do is deal with building stuff at home when I could be growing.

http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/cxp-420/

https://northerngrowlights.com/collections/all/products/photon-180clu1825?variant=26046738440

I'm not saying you have to build, there r now plenty of good options that dont use yesteryears tech

GOT_BUD? · Jan 23, 2017

Dion said:
http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/cxp-420/

https://northerngrowlights.com/collections/all/products/photon-180clu1825?variant=26046738440

I'm not saying you have to build, there r now plenty of good options that dont use yesteryears tech

I may be slow in the head, but I fail to see how either of those compare to the Amare sp900. Neither of them is a replacement for a 1k HPS. In one case it would take 2 to equal a 1k HPS. And the other would take at least 4, if not 5. My style of growing doesn't give me the option of hanging lights all over a room.

Phaeton · Jan 23, 2017

Dion said:
http://www.pacificlightconcepts.com/product/cxp-420/

https://northerngrowlights.com/collections/all/products/photon-180clu1825?variant=26046738440

I'm not saying you have to build, there r now plenty of good options that dont use yesteryears tech

Sometimes large arguments break out over silly attitudes towards physical facts that do not change due to opinion.

The two linked lights have inferior spectrum compared to Amare, and to many other brands as well.
This does not mean they will not grow plants, it just means there are better units available.
There always are, usually cost is involved. A well thought out DIY is the best and least expensive answer, but is not feasible for the majority of gardeners.

More power to those technically savvy DIY folks, but zealots at some manufacturing facilities design very efficient units also with reasonable pricing, care must be taken to separate these from the units with very savvy salesmen but no performance.

My side by side projects with six different brands of LED have been documented in previous posts, as have side by sides with MH, HPS, and CMH.
Turns out all have good and bad points, the final bud and veg rooms have been a hybrid of LED, discharge, and fluorescent lighting since 2011 with better yields and quality than any single light source could match.

I quit my day job in 2011 when I went to full time gardening. I now have three employees and stress is down.
I honestly think my attitude is correct as are my gardening practices.

GOT_BUD? · Jan 23, 2017

Now these are interesting, but they have no supplemental LED's.

http://timbergrowlights.com/900-watt-cree-cxb3590-square-framework/

Dion · Jan 24, 2017

yeah i guess it just depends on if u think u need to add in specific wavelengths or just go with a shit ton of natural light?

pazi · Jan 27, 2017

I would give this a try:
http://aduraled.com/product/horticulture-led/1950-gla

Buy 16 modules for a 4x4 or 5x5 area and connect them up yourself with two drivers.

GOT_BUD? · Feb 12, 2017

Dion said:
yeah i guess it just depends on if u think u need to add in specific wavelengths or just go with a shit ton of natural light?

It would be nice to have a little extra UVB for the last few weeks of flower. But I could get that from a couple of reptile fluorescents.

pazi said:
I would give this a try:
http://aduraled.com/product/horticulture-led/1950-gla

Buy 16 modules for a 4x4 or 5x5 area and connect them up yourself with two drivers.

Again, no want, will, or desire to build my own.

PetFlora · Feb 12, 2017

GOT_BUD? said:
Now these are interesting, but they have no supplemental LED's.

http://timbergrowlights.com/900-watt-cree-cxb3590-square-framework/

As a long time Amare (CoB hybrid) and BML SPYDR 600 user (all mono diodes) and seeing lots of Timber like DIYs, I think the jury is out on how much of an affect the mono rings bring to the table BY COMPARISON. What they do offer is the ability to use them alone during early veg, and maybe even alone during late flower

Until several people do a side-by-side, opinions are worthless

NewI · Feb 21, 2017

Gonna get me a 900 too. Don't listen to people saying it's expensive and low quality.. It's the oposite

FunkBomb · Feb 22, 2017

Any light with a Cree CXB3590 or Bridgelux Vero cob is going to be a great light. Once this new Optilux Ursa light comes out that will be the case as well.

-Funk

FortuneSeeker · Feb 22, 2017

Not every

... you see, there are china copies with CXB and Cree diodes that are just crap build. Bad spectrum and bad positioning of the CXB among the diodes gives a mid hot spot that will do more bad than good. Currently I am in this situation and I prefer not to use the CXB at all.
Amare is great and that is what I aim for next.

Smoking Lamp · Feb 22, 2017

PetFlora said:
As a long time Amare (CoB hybrid) and BML SPYDR 600 user (all mono diodes) and seeing lots of Timber like DIYs, I think the jury is out on how much of an affect the mono rings bring to the table BY COMPARISON. What they do offer is the ability to use them alone during early veg, and maybe even alone during late flower

Until several people do a side-by-side, opinions are worthless

i agree to an extent ...if side by side means well defined variables and controls...then i wholeheartedly agree.....otherwise i grate my teeth at that phrase...

Smoking Lamp · Feb 22, 2017

FortuneSeeker said:
Not every ... you see, there are china copies with CXB and Cree diodes that are just crap build. Bad spectrum and bad positioning of the CXB among the diodes gives a mid hot spot that will do more bad than good. Currently I am in this situation and I prefer not to use the CXB at all.
Amare is great and that is what I aim for next.

iget the spacing argument and agree but......

lets putthis into context though because the example falls apart a tad......you basically have somewhere around the hotspot of a 150w hps and at worst a 400 w hps ...if we use raw PPF and continuing with that thinking a 600 or a thouey would be an even worse hotspot.......but they still get used......

GOT_BUD? · Feb 23, 2017

Smoking Lamp said:
iget the spacing argument and agree but......

lets putthis into context though because the example falls apart a tad......you basically have somewhere around the hotspot of a 150w hps and at worst a 400 w hps ...if we use raw PPF and continuing with that thinking a 600 or a thouey would be an even worse hotspot.......but they still get used......

I agree with both of you. It kind of depends on one thing in my mind - height limitations. Which is a factor for me.

I really like the Amare. I had pretty much settled on them even though I knew I was going to have a problem with distance between plant and light.

I also really liked the new Ursa lights that are coming out (especially at that introductory price point). But again the same problem.

That's why I think I've settled my choice to the Timber Grow light frames. Yes, the frames are larger. But that's to spread the light out so I can get them closer to the plants. Potentially a foot or more closer than the Amare or Ursa. Amare recommends at least 24" to 30" without lenses, 36" or more with the lenses. I have not seen any info the Ursa's, but would assume it's similar due to construction. The Timber's I can get within 12" because of how spread out they are.

The downside to the Timber's are lack of UV due to being COB only. Ursa gets around this by speccing a different phosphor coating on the COBs they have made to deliver near UV spectrum. And Amare has 5 watt UV diodes. I can get around this shortcoming of the Timbers by using a supplemental floro tube that produces UV, the only question being how much to add. 1 foot tube? 2 foot? 4 foot? That's something I'll have to play around with once I get everything dialed in.

Food for thought...

FortuneSeeker · Feb 23, 2017

Smoking Lamp said:
iget the spacing argument and agree but......

lets putthis into context though because the example falls apart a tad......you basically have somewhere around the hotspot of a 150w hps and at worst a 400 w hps ...if we use raw PPF and continuing with that thinking a 600 or a thouey would be an even worse hotspot.......but they still get used......

Another thing about China witch I don't agree with is the lack of knowledge for cannabis. I mean ... a LED manufacturer from China(won't say the name), a sales representative asked me, off topic, in a conversation if what we are growing is heroin or opium. Fo' real ?
That was the point that made me really rethink China overall.

PetFlora · Feb 23, 2017

FYI: 3 G13 X WW 31 days old from seed in my DIY bubbler, under Amare SE 220 (since replaced with SE 250). I did use the monos only until they had 3 nodes

View attachment 398601 View attachment 398602

Amare SP900's

Weed is a gateway to gardening

Active member

Speed of Dark

Weed is a gateway to gardening

Active member

Weed is a gateway to gardening

Speed of Dark

Weed is a gateway to gardening

Active member

New member

Weed is a gateway to gardening

Well-known member

Member

Power Armor rules

New member

Member

Member

Weed is a gateway to gardening

New member

Well-known member