KevinL
Flashlight Enthusiast
The A2 is a strange light. You either get it - or you don't. I'm glad to say I get it.
I'm a tough customer, you should see me at my day job.. I'm jaded to the point where I look at technology and go "nothing $#*()ing impresses me any more" (envision me saying this as I step into a trade show and you can imagine how hard a sales rep's job then becomes). To be honest, I couldn't care less if they released a 128-bit 30Ghz six-core VLIW with hardware x86-to-VLIW mapper CPU tomorrow. I SAW IT COMING. Oh, and it had BETTER be under $99 at launch. *Yawn BIG Yawn*
With lights it's a little different, I am not jaded, but I've seen quite a lot of wonderful lights pass my way. The U2 and P90 lamps inspired my sig of "life begins at 100 lumens" on another forum, and I mean it. Breakfast begins at 3000 lumens, but that's after the USL gets here. I've seen LED, I've built LED, I've seen incan, and just this evening I was tearing the night apart with an Osram 64625HLX 100W monster powered by a 40-amp capable 12V SLA with a fresh charge on it. It LITERALLY transforms night into day, it lights things as brightly as if they were under direct noontime sunlight. I've reviewed The Widget, a third-party conversion lamp assembly for C-series Surefires that gives them three LEDs, two stages and a 70+ lumen incandescent that's brighter than a P60. So a light has got to truly offer something extraordinary for me to throw down the credit card and say "charge it and ship it".
So what's the A2 got? 50 lumens, 3 LEDs, two stage output.
That's where the spec sheet ends and the A2 begins. Even to my eyes, it defies logic. The A2 is so much more than just the sum of its components, and that has convinced me that nobody else can do it the way Surefire has done it - they come close, but they still can't touch the A2.
To be honest I never really liked the Surefire E2e with MN03 lamp. Dim, yellow, and not very impressive at all. Yup, I just called it all of the above. I have an E2e-SG and it was bought as a collector's edition rather than anything else. I was looking for a LED head for it for quite a while until I got my KL1-SG. Well, stacking both of them up against each other, you can clearly see the A2 hands the E2e its rear on a platter. Brighter, WHITER, and so much more impressive.
In fact, I stacked the A2 up against the P90 and P91 lamps both running on lithium ions (to give them maximum advantage). The A2 was on honest-to-goodness Surefire SF123As. The P90 is slightly brighter - though surprisingly, not by a whole lot more, but the A2 is most definitely WHITER. It's whiter than even the P91, although the '91 is close. Whatever you've heard about the A2's perfect beam - it's true. It takes ridiculously overdriven incandescents like my Roar of the Pelican (supposed to have less than ten hours lamp life the way I drive it - to the absolute limit) to match the color temperature.
I feel the killer advantage of the A2 lies in Willie Hunt's AWESOME Low Voltage Regulator (LVR) system. Nobody else with an A2 workalike has this; nobody else comes close. The LVR enables a 50msec soft-start, enables the bulb to be driven at max power all the time, and it's regulated. It is just like me stepping out of the "Dark Ages" of LED lighting with continually dimming direct drive and into the ruler-flat regulated output of constant-current drivers, except that this time, it's for incandescents. I have newfound respect for the guy and his work. No wonder Surefire grabbed him while they could. Less explainable is why Surefire killed their C2 Digital (C2D) and M2 Digital (M2D) projects. They're in the 2002 catalog, and it is a crying shame that they never made it to production. After seeing the LVR and having it blow my socks off (and I haven't even put more than 10 minutes on this A2), I think every damn incan needs to be regulated.
That, plus I have the limited edition A2 in HA-BK. I'm a sucker for HA-BK. It's tiny, compared to my U2 and it will fit dress pants perfectly. The color matches some of my outfits perfectly - black always looks good. Plus it's two stage and the LEDs are, surprisingly, not that dim. This is coming from someone who handles hundreds of 5mm LEDs.
Normally I'm a clickie guy, but the switch on this A2 is so buttery smooth I have no objections at all. The six-position tailcap is extremely impressive, plus the quick access with ONE hand to both brightness levels is sweet. Machining, engineering, and build quality is typical Surefire - that is to say, awesome. I needn't explain it, you handle it and see for yourself. As an added bonus, some have mentioned the U2 has slightly color-mismatched HA. This A2, at least the one I now own, is absolutely perfect. It beats my U2 in terms of coloration, although I have typically never griped about it. ("In the dark nobody will notice." "Yeah but why would you be looking at in the dark?" "Isn't the dark the same reason why you're holding the U2?")
If the U2 is an utterly perfect 10 on my scale of 10, the A2 is a 9.8. I'm docking a fraction of a percentage point because I expect my lights to be rechargeable - the U2 uses my favorite high-capacity cell AND has a low-voltage cutout, whereas it's harder to run the A2 on rechargeables. However, if I am comparing to incandescents, the A2 would be a perfect 10, because it's whiter than anything else out there, regulated so the output never falls off (you should see me feeding my E2e a constant stream of fresh batteries just to get decent output for 10 minutes). I have NO problems feeding the same batteries to my A2.. it makes the most of them and I'm glad.
At half an inch longer than an E2e, and just an ounce heavier, there is absolutely NO doubt in my mind about which light I'd take into operations. It's the same weight as a G2, while delivering so much more at a price point I can live with. Last time I travelled, I brought a P61 battery eater as my incandescent in case I needed that extra punch (I had a U2 and E1e+KL1 on me). Next time, it'll be the much more amazing A2.
Yes, indeed.. I believe.
I'd also like to extend an extra special THANK YOU to matthewdanger for alerting me that the A2 HA-BK was on sale. :goodjob:
I'm a tough customer, you should see me at my day job.. I'm jaded to the point where I look at technology and go "nothing $#*()ing impresses me any more" (envision me saying this as I step into a trade show and you can imagine how hard a sales rep's job then becomes). To be honest, I couldn't care less if they released a 128-bit 30Ghz six-core VLIW with hardware x86-to-VLIW mapper CPU tomorrow. I SAW IT COMING. Oh, and it had BETTER be under $99 at launch. *Yawn BIG Yawn*
With lights it's a little different, I am not jaded, but I've seen quite a lot of wonderful lights pass my way. The U2 and P90 lamps inspired my sig of "life begins at 100 lumens" on another forum, and I mean it. Breakfast begins at 3000 lumens, but that's after the USL gets here. I've seen LED, I've built LED, I've seen incan, and just this evening I was tearing the night apart with an Osram 64625HLX 100W monster powered by a 40-amp capable 12V SLA with a fresh charge on it. It LITERALLY transforms night into day, it lights things as brightly as if they were under direct noontime sunlight. I've reviewed The Widget, a third-party conversion lamp assembly for C-series Surefires that gives them three LEDs, two stages and a 70+ lumen incandescent that's brighter than a P60. So a light has got to truly offer something extraordinary for me to throw down the credit card and say "charge it and ship it".
So what's the A2 got? 50 lumens, 3 LEDs, two stage output.
That's where the spec sheet ends and the A2 begins. Even to my eyes, it defies logic. The A2 is so much more than just the sum of its components, and that has convinced me that nobody else can do it the way Surefire has done it - they come close, but they still can't touch the A2.
To be honest I never really liked the Surefire E2e with MN03 lamp. Dim, yellow, and not very impressive at all. Yup, I just called it all of the above. I have an E2e-SG and it was bought as a collector's edition rather than anything else. I was looking for a LED head for it for quite a while until I got my KL1-SG. Well, stacking both of them up against each other, you can clearly see the A2 hands the E2e its rear on a platter. Brighter, WHITER, and so much more impressive.
In fact, I stacked the A2 up against the P90 and P91 lamps both running on lithium ions (to give them maximum advantage). The A2 was on honest-to-goodness Surefire SF123As. The P90 is slightly brighter - though surprisingly, not by a whole lot more, but the A2 is most definitely WHITER. It's whiter than even the P91, although the '91 is close. Whatever you've heard about the A2's perfect beam - it's true. It takes ridiculously overdriven incandescents like my Roar of the Pelican (supposed to have less than ten hours lamp life the way I drive it - to the absolute limit) to match the color temperature.
I feel the killer advantage of the A2 lies in Willie Hunt's AWESOME Low Voltage Regulator (LVR) system. Nobody else with an A2 workalike has this; nobody else comes close. The LVR enables a 50msec soft-start, enables the bulb to be driven at max power all the time, and it's regulated. It is just like me stepping out of the "Dark Ages" of LED lighting with continually dimming direct drive and into the ruler-flat regulated output of constant-current drivers, except that this time, it's for incandescents. I have newfound respect for the guy and his work. No wonder Surefire grabbed him while they could. Less explainable is why Surefire killed their C2 Digital (C2D) and M2 Digital (M2D) projects. They're in the 2002 catalog, and it is a crying shame that they never made it to production. After seeing the LVR and having it blow my socks off (and I haven't even put more than 10 minutes on this A2), I think every damn incan needs to be regulated.
That, plus I have the limited edition A2 in HA-BK. I'm a sucker for HA-BK. It's tiny, compared to my U2 and it will fit dress pants perfectly. The color matches some of my outfits perfectly - black always looks good. Plus it's two stage and the LEDs are, surprisingly, not that dim. This is coming from someone who handles hundreds of 5mm LEDs.
Normally I'm a clickie guy, but the switch on this A2 is so buttery smooth I have no objections at all. The six-position tailcap is extremely impressive, plus the quick access with ONE hand to both brightness levels is sweet. Machining, engineering, and build quality is typical Surefire - that is to say, awesome. I needn't explain it, you handle it and see for yourself. As an added bonus, some have mentioned the U2 has slightly color-mismatched HA. This A2, at least the one I now own, is absolutely perfect. It beats my U2 in terms of coloration, although I have typically never griped about it. ("In the dark nobody will notice." "Yeah but why would you be looking at in the dark?" "Isn't the dark the same reason why you're holding the U2?")
If the U2 is an utterly perfect 10 on my scale of 10, the A2 is a 9.8. I'm docking a fraction of a percentage point because I expect my lights to be rechargeable - the U2 uses my favorite high-capacity cell AND has a low-voltage cutout, whereas it's harder to run the A2 on rechargeables. However, if I am comparing to incandescents, the A2 would be a perfect 10, because it's whiter than anything else out there, regulated so the output never falls off (you should see me feeding my E2e a constant stream of fresh batteries just to get decent output for 10 minutes). I have NO problems feeding the same batteries to my A2.. it makes the most of them and I'm glad.
At half an inch longer than an E2e, and just an ounce heavier, there is absolutely NO doubt in my mind about which light I'd take into operations. It's the same weight as a G2, while delivering so much more at a price point I can live with. Last time I travelled, I brought a P61 battery eater as my incandescent in case I needed that extra punch (I had a U2 and E1e+KL1 on me). Next time, it'll be the much more amazing A2.
Yes, indeed.. I believe.
I'd also like to extend an extra special THANK YOU to matthewdanger for alerting me that the A2 HA-BK was on sale. :goodjob:
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