Theres a thread going on for about 80 pages like this, are they s5 are they s6? The only way of knowing is spheretest seems to be the general conclusion. So i say sphere test the f*ck out of those boards if you feel it will help. But what are you comparing to? And all this bin stuff is tolerances and margins of percent. That can get amplified by imprecision in measuring equiment. Basicly i think its very hard from a spheretest-result to argue and prove anything definite. And you will be out of cash.
Personally im not even sure if it matters that much, mostly if your driving them hard. S5,S6, i think you get more benefit from driving any diode really soft, rather than paying more for a top diode and drive it hard.
The way it works out for me where im at:
I can get 2x288V2 hlgs for about 300€=
576 diodes, brandspanking top bin, runs about 250w normally but can technicly go to around 300w.
I can get 3xFoTop lm561C sX bin, but reasonably not less than s5. 2400 of good, not best, samsung diodes for just over 300€
If i run the hlg kit at full ill get about 300 watts, but id have to do something to cool it a bit extra.
The Fotops: if i where to run them on the same 300w itd be 100 per board, or .125 w per diode instead of .6w. Or about a 5th of max.
Even if i wanted to run nominal, or a third of max, id get about 480w out of the 3 fotop boards. And as per
https://www.samsung.com/led/support/tools/led-component-calculator/
... Id still beat the efficiency of a super topbin at around 185lums/w using the fotops and i would get +50% more power. Win-win.
Most of you guys are stateside so the calculation might be a bit different for you, might make more sense to go with the best, allways. But i feel that even if the numbers may be close, and with all the uncertainties of buying from china;
4x as many diodes, spread out over 7.5x more board area, maybe and fairly probably a bin lower, its still the better option as i can run it sodt without heatsinks and get it low down onto the cannopy so i dont lose lights.
Edit: also for Rita being strange... Im pretty sure your not the first one to bring this up with her. I did, and got similar pushback. Im pretty sure has a few dozens a day. And in the end the only way to say is by you making a spheretest. If the 80 page thread mentioned above is any indication of what she has do deal with im not surprised if she think we are timewasting dumbos that she has no time for unless we do what we all know is the only way to move such issue forward: spheretest, (or it didnt happen).
I wouldnt be surprised either if youd feel annoyed if litterally every client that contact you question the quality of your product because you are chinese. To me her reaction is not great, but i definitely think it makes sense, especially if she bought the diodes as s6.