+1, was going to say exactly that. Would only add that the reduced output is specifically in the spill portion of the beam, as would be expected with the deeply recessed LED. I love my basic Gerber IU's with Nichia CS's modded in, and I polish the reflector. Was only briefly excited about the possibility of a new Ultra M until I read about the performance. Does not sound like even a mod can fix what's wrong with it for my uses - I want the big spillbeam. Good news is most places are selling IU's for about $15, picked up a couple at Sports Authority a couple of months back.