I am currently using a 14K bulb from that Ebay seller... it's a 70W and I like it but have no basis for comparison. It seems to run a crisp white with a little blue using an Advance magnetic ballast, fired up really blue the first week or so and whiter now. My Paly frag has gained some color in the 3 weeks I've had it, so I suspect it's doing alright in the PAR area. The bulb was made by a company called 'Artemis Lighting', but as was mentioned before the problem with the Chinese bulbs is consistency... the next time I order a bulb I may get one made by a different company.

I do find that I need to 'warm up' the color temperature of pictures I take, so it can't be yellowish in the least... I suspect that 14K bulbs should be a bright white with a slight blue tint?

The bulbs arrived the other day. Much bluer than I thought they would be, almost like 20k bulbs. Maybe they will whiten up in a week.

Here is poor pic, in person not quite as blue as in the photo and a bit brighter and the other side is a little whiter than in the photo. The other side is a XM10k with about 16 months. The XM appears brighter. Not sure if I really like the color of the 14K's, a little to blue for me, and tends to wash out the colors. Might try their 10k and sell these off for a good price.

The brand is Artemis, made in China. The bulbs are not as heavy as the XM so I suspect thinner glass and components. But for $10.00 a piece, guess I can't complain.

I have the 70W version of the 14K, made by the same company... They start out very blue but fade after a number of hours of use... beyond the burn-in, I would say after about 50 hours on or so. Mine is a crisp white with just a hint of blue, on a magnetic ballast.

I too have bought from this Canadian vendor, but I haven't been really happy with the lights. I haven't tried the 150W yet so I can't comment, but the 70W version is 1/4" shorter than all my other 70W bulbs and just doesn't fit my 70W fixture properly. It constantly starts and quits. I checked with them on sizing and they said this is the size of all their bulbs.

I regularly buy from "Trust Deal Lights" in the US and am very happy with their lighting. I bought a USHIO in order to do a comparison and I liked the Ebay bulb better.

That's good to hear, will post back in a week with the results.

Hmm, interesting... I didn't have another bulb to compare it to, I was just unable to find 70W bulbs in any brand name (in stock, and in Canada). I bought the bulb before I built the fixture (a Noma halogen security light DIY). The fixture has a spring loaded side, so the bulb fits perfectly.

Do you mean you liked the color of the Ebay bulb better than the Ushio? Or the Trust Deal Lights bulb better than the Ushio? Either way, it's interesting that you like the non brand name one better, is that because you didn't like the color, or the intensity, or... ?

You may want to give it a couple, just in case... I can't remember if it was the first week or the second that it toned down the blue :redface:

In saying that I liked the Ebay bulb better I meant that I got a 10K Ushio and it was really yellow. I got a 10k, a 14k, a 15k and a 20k ebay bulbs (still paid less for all than the Ushio) and the ebay 10k was whiter (and not just at the beginning). I have tried them all and I like the 15k the best so far.

I only run the e-bay bulbs for 6 months before changing them but for the price I could run them for 4 months and still be ahead.