I don't really do any official reviews on products but I figured I would share my experience on this AVA atomizer.
I went to pick up some juice at my local Vape shop....yes, I finally have an actual physical shop 2 miles from my house now!! I was chattin with one of the guys there and he mentioned something about a ceramic atomizer so naturally I was intrigued and started investigating. Here is my story:
History: started vaping a lil over 2.5 years ago, i figured it out quick(like 3 days) and never bounced back to cigarettes. Shortly after I found 510 cartridges a pain and started dripping......was good to go. Then I found 6v
, I was in heaven.
Up til now I have tried cartomizers, a couple of tanks and various different atomizers but straight dripping into a traditional 510 atty always seemed to work best so that's all I do. Concerned with longevity and a desire to eliminate/reduce that damned burned taste when accidently hitting dry I started looking for reviews about this AVA and came across this thread. I read every single page and then I ordered a HR ava and have been using it for just over 2 weeks.
I vape everywhere I go, all day, every day. I might be considered a "heavy vaper"
so, on to the Thoughts about the AVA:
Device:
Prodigy V3.1, 6v mechanical unregulated(no vv)
liquid:
50/50 vp/pg 24mg, mostly lighter tasting fruit stuff
Atty:
AVA HR sealed bottom (flat bottom) ordered direct from ThermoVape
Price:
price was 39.97. I have a few thoughts on this price. While it can seem expensive for some I find it to be a great value.
The order came with the atty in a cool resealable tube, a pretty sweet stainless steel super wide mouth drip tip and for no reason it also came with a lil longer black delrin drip tip of the same shape and big wide hole in another of those resealable tubes. Now, it was pretty nice to see a $40 atty arrive like that instead of just the atty in plastic wrap.
This drip tip has now become my favorite of all I have ever used, the wide hole makes dripping even easier than it already was. I can understand that some may not give 2 ....s about some drip tips but if this atomizer goes a few months and it comes with that then to me it is a great value and will instantly save on buying atty's.
Flavor:
As some have said, this atomizer is a flavor monster. All of my flavors are greatly enhanced and very very clean. I remember awhile back when carto's were coming on the scene and people were saying how clean and great tasting carto's were, I tried em and found(at least to me) that this clean flavor was nothing more that the taste of the filler and it really turned me off of them. This atomizer provides the best, cleanest, most pure flavor taste of anything I have tried!! I can honestly say, all you taste is the juice. Also, since there is no silica or fiber "wick" there is almost no flavor "carry over" when changing juices. A quick blow-out with a paper towel and you are fresh to go with the next juice.
Draw:
Mine came with the 4 are holes on the connector. At first it seemed a lil "airy" for me but actually worked great. It is still way less "airy" than a standard tank cartomizer.
running it dry:
I am a full time dripper and lets be honest.....a dripper will occasionally run an atty light or dry. I think we all know how bad a burned traditional atty tastes....man does it suck. The AVA has yet to ever give me that. There is a very distinct flavor change once you are running close to the end of your drips and need to re-up but it is NOT harsh!!! You can just make out the taste of the ceramic getting hot but that's it!! no burned taste or smell and no harsh hit on yer lungs. This is where this atty really shines for me.
Throat Hit:
I use 24mg juice and I like a nice big throat hit....let's you know it's werkin
This thing hit's like a champ.....or freight train....Mack truck. However you want to say it it hits great. It's kinda hard to tell unless you are a pro but even the TH seems to be a bit smoother, cleaner and more crisp....possibly to do with the fact that there is no fiber fill/wick to interfere.
Vapor production:
I know there are folks out there that enjoy a ton of vapor almost even if the TH and flavor aren't really there. There are some that say this atty isn't really the greatest at vapor production and I kinda see why.
I too like a nice amount of vapor and right out of the box through "break-in" it would seem that it doesn't produce much. But we need to remember something, this is not a traditional atomizer. It uses different materials and cycles fluid a lil differently than regular atty's. That being said once you get used to the AVA and it has made it through the break-in you can get a bunch of vaper, it just doesn't come as quick. Some traditional atty's give clouds on a short puffs, this one needs longer draws to get similar vapor but it IS there.
Overall:
I think this thing kicks ...., it is solid and well put together. I have been on it for 2 weeks straight and it hits like brand new. I even dropped it on a concrete floor a couple days after I got it and was alil worried but it kept on truckin.I will say that the AVA does need good power to run. I am in the market to upgrade to a PoVari and one of the guys at that shop was nice enough to let me try this atty on his ProVari.........I thought it was hitting awesome on my unregulated Prodigy but DAMN, it's performance shot WAY up on that thing!!!
Thanks to everybody on this thread for the info I mooched a couple weeks ago when deciding on this thing and I hope this helps somebody else.
