Anyone annoyed at KESSIL?

[Dominic Prezwanski]

So I’ve been a fan of Kessil way back with the A350, last year I bought into there a360x on the premise of WiFi control...

Since then I’ve heard.
2018 - “later on in the year”
- “soon”
- “be patient”
2019- “just wrapping up testing”....
- “first quarter”
- “summer”
- “for sure the end of summer”
- “coming really soon”
- “ available after MACNA”

Now I think I’ve been patient, and for what ever the cause of delay is .... could be a manufacturing problem out of there hands.

I’m hearing that it’s gonna be +/- $100.
This brings a Kessil a360x to $549 for a 90w LED?!

I have spoken with Kessil directly hoping to get on the beta team.. nope.

We can pick decent lights for way less then this these days. Im kinda on the fence now with my next set being the Radions.

In my opinion.. Kessil should really market these dongles as a complementary pair fully knowing that it should have been inbuilt within the light, pricing it around $40 range would be okay price.

Don’t forget its a little dongle that doesn’t even fit the curve of the light..

Rant over...

**Now I know only one is needed per array but cables are still needed..

 

[andrewkw]

Still happy with my A350/A360s with mechanical timers. I know 99% of people don't want to run them like this, but works for me. Paying more for a light is one thing, paying extra to control it does bother me a bit, but I'm not annoyed about it since I don't use them that way.

 

[Aardvark1134]

They never said the wifi would be free and who in their right mind expected the wifi version to be cheaper than the basic wired controller? It's the price everyone expected it to be and delivered within a couple months of when most expected it to be. Also it's not $100 per light its $100 for all of them. IE if you have 8 of them on a 350 Gallon it's still just $100 total not 800. All in all Kessil makes some of the best lights out there. If money is a huge issue there are far cheaper brands you could get. If you want the best then Kessil is definitely one of the top 3 in almost everyone's book.

As for Radions also in the top 3 for most people but while you don't need a separate controller for them you do need a seperate diffuser for each and every one of them to get acceptable mixing of spectrum from them. If you have several of them all those diffusers will quickly cost more than a single controller.

 

[ca1ore]

Something I learned many years ago - buy something based on that which it does when you buy it, not on some promised future upgrade which may or may not happen to your satisfaction. If I’m at all dissatisfied with Kessil, its the tendency for their lights to fail within a year of the end of the warranty. Three times and counting.

 

[MTBake]

I use my Kessils with a timer. No ramping or color changing at all. 100% int and the whitest setting. They can keep their controllers. They are not needed. An $8 timer is all that's needed really.

 

[Scurvy]

The piece that would rub me wrong is them releasing the fixture knowing full well most folks would buy the Spectral X controller only to then go out and spend another $100 on the dingle 10 months later. These two things should have been released simultaneously IMO. I got off the Kessil bus a couple years ago so no skin in the game now but that would be my complaint.

 

[Aardvark1134]

Personally since you should spend a few hrs settings up your lights on the 1st day and then never touch them again unless something breaks I really don't see the issue between the corded and wifi. To me the only way you should care is if you are always playing with the settings which almost every reef expect says you absolutely should not do.

 

[Hersheyb]

I haven't tried the 360x but I was a bit discourage when I heard that a seperate piece was need to control them wireless. I've been running the 350/360we for some time and I just stuck with them since i was happy controlling them wirelessly with my apex.

 

[User1]

The wireless module is out. Late, but will be on sale next month they said. Was shown last weekend and they made a post here for Q & A.

This is a cart before the horse. The light was ready before the wireless module more than likely. Hold up or release what you have. Seems like a no brainer to me. As noted above you don't need the Spectra X controller unless you wanted to play with colors, timers, moon lines, etc. Acclimation is probably the one thing that I could see paying for it knowing the wireless was due out if you are adding frags. That or the moon light. Other than that - it is optional. So I voted get over it

Now I will say that I took them up an replied to their Q & A thread and suggested that if we bought a controller to maybe offer us a discount on the wireless unit. That or offer a discount for a light. Wireless you turn in the controller and get 50% off. Something like that. If you buy a light but keep the controller then you get X amount off a new light.

They are getting a lot of similar requests. I urge you to let them know so they can think on it. They are a pretty good company from what I can tell (my opinion) so I'm sure it was just a thing of it not being ready or product road map aligning.

Stuff happens - not the end of the world.

 

[ImNemo]

Add me to the group that uses timers on my 3 360we's and my 4 t5's. Foolproof and the easiest route. If the timer was to ever fail then I'm out $2 for a new timer.

Sold my 3 radion gen 4 xr30w's. The software and reef link are just plain garbage. Enter Ecotech Fanboys in 3...2...1....

 

[Bronx19]

I felt the same for the controller, the mounting bracket and the plastic they're made of. That's why I forgot all of them and bought black boxes.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

I agree with the op, it’s ridiculous and dumb. They want to charge how much for a light then say oh you need this for it to work. That like a car company selling you a million dollar car. But I’m order to drive it you need to buy the steering wheel. That’s an extra 5,000. Really! So many lights that can easily stay if not out perform kessill radion and hydra the ones who think they are the gift from heavens.

Do I expect people to make fun of me or out me down sure. Remember it’s your money and you can buy whatever you want. But when you have these issues and reef link never working and what not. Remember people like myself and some others said money doesn’t mean it’s actuallt better. Just means the company is greedy.

 

[Aardvark1134]

Eh it's more like you bought a million dollar car and said wait I want to be able to start it and control the stereo settings from 100 yards away and they went oh we can do that but you have to pay for the remote ...

 

[reefwiser]

Another case where they should not pre announce anything. Manufactures should not pre announce any thing till it is ready for sale. People get to upset. After the set up of the light you really do t need to mess with it. Might need to adjust the on/off time do to day light savings but not needed to play with colors for sure.

 

[ca1ore]

I haven't tried the 360x but I was a bit discourage when I heard that a seperate piece was need to control them wireless. I've been running the 350/360we for some time and I just stuck with them since i was happy controlling them wirelessly with my apex.

OK, but the 350/360 cannot be controlled wirelessly - unless I’ve missed something! Frankly, I fail to see the advantage of wireless control generally.

 

[ca1ore]

Manufactures should not pre announce any thing till it is ready for sale. People get too upset.

Ok, but surely you know WHY they do it! There is no small irony though. Some people get upset if something pre-announced does not show precisely how and when ‘promised’; others get upset if manufacturers decline to share their future products roadmap. Cannot please all the people all the time, so why bother to even try. Just do what you think will maximize sales and profits.

 

[djray77]

Is it just me but when I change the settings of my lights I like to be in front of my tank so I can see the changes, not sure why anyone would what to change settings from a different room? Also, I rarely change my settings, set once and leave it. These companies are just coming up with better gimmicks and people buy into them I think.

 

[reefwiser]

Neptune has decided to not pre announce anything anymore. An other companies are learning to do the same the benefits out ways the cost of people mad that things are not already out. As we get into the high tech end of the hobby things just have to work or equipment get a bad rep real fast. Not worth the cost to pre announce anymore.

 

[backdraft_reefer]

Been plenty happy with my four A360WE’s. Was thinking of upgrading to the 360X, but holding off until more reviews come out. I just use my Apex to control the lights. I’m on board with the set it and forget for lights. Better husbandry produces better results IMHO.

 

[Dominic Prezwanski]

Another case where they should not pre announce anything. Manufactures should not pre announce any thing till it is ready for sale. People get to upset. After the set up of the light you really do t need to mess with it. Might need to adjust the on/off time do to day light savings but not needed to play with colors for sure.

Only real reason I upgraded to the 360x was cause they announced the WiFi. So they definitely got the marketing right