MH mogul bulbs - what's the current thinking?

[Moe_K]

I need a new 250 watt mogul socket bulb.
Back in the day I'd get Ushio. I like 10,000K. I'm not into very blue.
I looked at Premium Aquatics and they have 'em for about 75 bucks.
Is that a decent price?
Are there cheaper bulbs with equal quality?
Is there a better vendor to use?

I'm just getting back into this stuff. Help a brother reefer out!

 

[JohnK]

You might like the ushio 14K blubs. Not as blue as other "14K" bulbs.

 

[Moe_K]

XM was another brand that was good. I think they did well on Sanjay's analysis. To boot, they're a little cheaper.
Was there some talk that Chinese made XMs weren't as good? SO much to remember.

 

[Andy V]

What type of ballast are you using? 250w 20k radiums are not very blue on a magnetic ballast. On an electronic ballast, well that's a different story...

 

[inverted]

I was using the Phoenix 14k and now the Iris 14K hellolights sells. The Iris is nice, definitely a bit whiter than the Phoenix 14K, but I don't perceive it as yellow, as I do with the XM 10K or Ushio 14K. I'm undecided if I like it better than the Phoenix. The XM 20K is nice too, but deeper blue than the Phoenix, with a bit of a purple hue to my eye.