**ULTIMATE LED TEST** *GLH Spectra 290* VS *Blackstar 500* VS *Hydro Grow LED 336X*

puffenuff said:

my bad i missed it on the previous page. so what made you go with the 1w penetrator over the 3w?

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Not a problem at all! I don't expect everyone to read everything I usually skim and look at pictures myself unless im real into the grow lol. To answer your question I would have to say simply wattage draw and trying to keep the lights evenly matched. The 336x is rated to grow in a 4x4 area; the 1w version draws 340w while the 3w draws an estimated 520w.

After I see how these lights run, I may try looking into the Blackstar 900 and I believe GLH is working on a new model which will draw around the 500w mark as well.. that would really be the ultimate test of the top of the lines. Bright side to this test is there are still lights one could purchase that are upgrades of the lights they currently see running.

Good luck brother......i own two blackstars that im happy with so this grow should be interesting......that penetrator looks like a beast

WeJuana said:

Blackstar 500: $539.95
Spectra 500: $1,299.99
Penetrator 336X: $1,599.00

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nice test ill be around watching but IMO the blackstar has already won sheerly on this post right here, the GLH may yield a slight bit more but not much as other studies have shown but when dealing with say a 240 w blackstar versus a 190w GLH its the GLH panel you want, now with this test wat i see is a difference of something like 30 watts or so on the panels on the average and thats not enough to get me spending 1300 for an LED when i can get 2 panels that give me MORE area of light that draw BARELY less power. I promise you for the price 2 blackstar 500's is going to blow the spectra and the penetrator out of the water.

As a single panel the blackstar is going to lose out to the GLH panel for sure though, I own blackstars and kessils, very happy with both of them. Would like to run some GLH stuff but at the prices shown NOT WORTH IT. Im wanting around 600watts of draw from my LED panels now and 2 500's will make me a happy camper without having to spend 2500 bucks to get it.

subbed to this bad boy.

Kaptain Kron said:

nice test ill be around watching but IMO the blackstar has already won sheerly on this post right here, the GLH may yield a slight bit more but not much as other studies have shown but when dealing with say a 240 w blackstar versus a 190w GLH its the GLH panel you want, now with this test wat i see is a difference of something like 30 watts or so on the panels on the average and thats not enough to get me spending 1300 for an LED when i can get 2 panels that give me MORE area of light that draw BARELY less power. I promise you for the price 2 blackstar 500's is going to blow the spectra and the penetrator out of the water.

As a single panel the blackstar is going to lose out to the GLH panel for sure though, I own blackstars and kessils, very happy with both of them. Would like to run some GLH stuff but at the prices shown NOT WORTH IT. Im wanting around 600watts of draw from my LED panels now and 2 500's will make me a happy camper without having to spend 2500 bucks to get it.

subbed to this bad boy.

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As I was saying prior though I am not here to be a judge on behalf of anybody of the companies, so I will not be declaring a winner at any point, merely providing facts and allowing people to make a more informed decision before their purchases. I want to provide nothing but factual data.

When I yield, I will try to equate the final yield in a form of grams per watts for each individual light, and then cost per gram based on light cost.

The price breakdown paid for lights is as follows:
Blackstar - ($540/301watts) $1.80 per watt
GLH - ($1300/360watts) $3.61 per watt
Hydro Grow LED - ($1600/341watts) $4.69 per watt


@kushgroove - The Penetrator X is definitely a neat looking light! I am so anxious to see how these lights perform in comparison to each other!

WeJuana said:

As I was saying prior though I am not here to be a judge on behalf of anybody of the companies, so I will not be declaring a winner at any point, merely providing facts and allowing people to make a more informed decision before their purchases. I want to provide nothing but factual data.

When I yield, I will try to equate the final yield in a form of grams per watts for each individual light, and then cost per gram based on light cost.

The price breakdown paid for lights is as follows:
Blackstar - ($540/301watts) $1.80 per watt
GLH - ($1300/360watts) $3.61 per watt
Hydro Grow LED - ($1600/341watts) $4.69 per watt


@kushgroove - The Penetrator X is definitely a neat looking light! I am so anxious to see how these lights perform in comparison to each other!

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I know and im callin the results of this test right now based on current knowledge and tests the only one throwin me for a loop is the penetrator, the Blackstar is ALMOST as good as that GLH, but for the price its fuckin a million times better. Winner in and of itself. Price shows it as well as wattage draw since they are all relatively equal, blackstars spectrum is proven. That being said i very much look forward to this side by side. Facts will prove what i said above and im hopin that penetrator suprises me like with results that make it worth 1500 bucks lol. Not a whole lot of differences in the results you will see between that GLH and blackstar, like i said the GLH is gonna yield a slight bit more quality differences are negligable if any. Those statements are from personal experience of running them and watching others run them in person not online. Like i said im curious about the penetrator its the only one i havent seen run.

Kaptain Kron said:

I know and im callin the results of this test right now based on current knowledge and tests the only one throwin me for a loop is the penetrator, the Blackstar is ALMOST as good as that GLH, but for the price its fuckin a million times better.

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I understand where your coming from completely. There is a pretty significant difference between the price of the Blackstar and the other 2 units and I know for a fact they produce some danky final product.

I hope what this really thread really does is opens a few peoples eyes to the fact LED growing can be worth the investment, rather than listening to someone's recycled garbage, down-talking a technology they have had little to no experience with themselves.

well said and thanks for droppin the coin to do this this is a really nice comparison i like how you've worked the variables out of it with identical tents and fans and whatnot. Strains as well. should help take the wind out of teh sails of the disbelievers. I honestly think the main problem is people try to compare way too low of a a wattage of light to a HPS. In my experience it falls somewhere between 1/2-2/3 the wattage draw of an HPS to equal what you would get off of said HPS. When you compare watt for watt actual draw HPS to LED there just isnt a comparison anymore the LED's just decimate. Unfortunately as you shown earlier with the prices the blackstar is really the only one anywhere near the affordable range and its still about a grand to get 2 of em to equal 600 watt draw, price is comn down though, and honestly the light pays for itself just like any other, but im about super quality not quanity. Not only that LED's are so much safer for us, no more fires in the grow room. Too many advantages to ignore. The more that we buy the further the price will come down. Im on the fence about going back because i need some pretty large yields now to support family, and the upfront cost is gettin me a bit, so i may do a few quick HPS runs for some $ to stack up and switch back again. The only thing holding me back from goin large scale with LED is cost right now. If i did go large scale though I would end up going with kessils, they are so modular its ridiculous. So much fun stuff out there.

Going to be watching this closely +rep man

**nice thread.. im in --subd

Finally I real Test, THANK YOU A LOT ! You have no idea how much I want to see this, I'm about to spent 1k in one of those penetrator 3w n you will be my justification to my wife, yes sir ! I'm super subbed

muchos gracias for the comparison. while this is wejuanas thread i think its safe to say that if you are a led hater please dont come here bragging about how you got 5 pounds from your 600 watt hps and that leds are good for growing nothing more then wheat grass. this thread is starting out real positive. lets keep it that way. wejuana just threw out some major bread on this grow. give this thread the respect it deserves. who knows maybe the results of this test will make doubters into believers....feels like a cage match is going to happen with some real good contenders. if you dont mind me asking how long have you been growing and what is your experience level growing with leds ? thanks once again

Thanks everyone for the support and thanks! I'm glad there are some of you out there who are interested, that I can share this with.

@711grower - I would put myself somewhere between novice and advanced as far as growing experience, and as far as LED experience I have had 2 harvests under my belt.

Subscribed !!!...thanks for doing this..

Thanks for joining in and glad to have you!

I'm excited to see this comparison swell and like said above unless the other 2 lights double the yeild of the blackstar I think the blackstar is already the winner.

Glad to have you here Nate and I appreciate your input!

I can't wait for these damn clones to get out of the cloner and into the tents to really make this thing interesting!!

Nor can we Juana......nor can we. lol

I have a question for the crowd and I want your opinions!

After some research, I realized it will likely be another 5-9 days before the clones are ready to pot out of the clone machine.

I have 3 LA Con mothers which are the exact same age, similar size, and have had the exact same nutes up to this point which are ready for flower.

My question is:

Do yall want to wait for the clones and see each individual LED veg their respective clone for a few weeks and then flower?
Or
Would you rather me throw one of each of these mothers in and start flower with the 3 comparison lights now, and I will veg all the clones in a different tent all under the same light, keeping the experiment controlled.. and we will make it a perpetual grow with multiple trials?

WeJuana said:

I have a question for the crowd and I want your opinions!

After some research, I realized it will likely be another 5-9 days before the clones are ready to pot out of the clone machine.

I have 3 LA Con mothers which are the exact same age, similar size, and have had the exact same nutes up to this point which are ready for flower.

My question is:

Do yall want to wait for the clones and see each individual LED veg their respective clone for a few weeks and then flower?
Or
Would you rather me throw one of each of these mothers in and start flower with the 3 comparison lights now, and I will veg all the clones in a different tent all under the same light, keeping the experiment controlled.. and we will make it a perpetual grow with multiple trials?

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Put those bitches in NOW........ha i'm an impatient SOB...

PSUAGRO. said:

Put those bitches in NOW........ha i'm an impatient SOB...

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My feelings exactly.. I think even an LED basher would admit that an LED can veg a plant lol.. I want to start getting some budding in motion!

Any objections speak soon or its 12-12 for the mums!!

i'm subbing for this LED challenge i own a backstar 240 W