For the sake of discussion. FWIW: This from Daniel Stern (only part of the complete email response I got):
"The Koito lamps come with good quality
standard-luminance/standard-output bulbs. Bulb selection matters a _lot_
to how well you can (or can't) see at night. Please see bulb test
results posted by my colleague Virgil at
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?392498-Interesting-headlight-bulb-test-results
. Note the performance difference, especially on low beam, between the
standard bulb (bulb "A", the kind that comes with the headlamps) and the
high-efficacy bulb (bulb "C"). The current best pick in 60/55w bulbs is
made by Tungsram (GE of Europe); it is a +120 item that is a few
developmental iterations improved over the +80/+90 bulb "C" in the
linked comparison. I keep them in stock for $43.18/pair. With relays in
the system it's tempting to grab for big wattage numbers (100/90, etc),
but for a good collection of sturdy reasons it's usually
counterproductive at best; more info on request."
> Lots of folks going with LED replacements. I'll be you can address that
> ...
"First principles: halogen lamps need to use halogen bulbs. The "LED
bulbs" now flooding the market, claiming to convert halogen headlamps to
LED, are not a legitimate, safe, effective, or legal product. No matter
whose name is on them or what the vendor claims, these are a fraudulent
scam. They are not capable of producing the right amounts of light, nor
producing it in the right pattern for the lamp's optics to work.
If you wish more detailed info on these so-called "conversions", please
see
https://jalopnik.com/why-most-led-headlight-upgrades-dont-really-work-an-ex-1843070472
and
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html
.
Nutshell version: this is not like trying out different bulbs in the
kitchen or living room or garage, where all it has to do is light up in
a way you find adequate and pleasing. Headlamps aren't just flood or
spot lights; they are precision optical instruments (yes, even a cheap
and minimal headlamp counts as a precision optical instrument) that have
a complex, difficult job to do in terms of simultaneously putting light
where it's needed, keeping it away from where it's harmful, and
controlling the amounts of light at numerous locations within the beam
to appropriate levels (too much light in certain areas is just as
dangerous as not enough). Headlamps cannot just spray out a random blob
of light, and that's what they do with anything other than the intended
correct kind of light source.
And there's also a mountain of unsafe junk in the form of trinkets
claiming to be complete "LED headlamps", as well. But there's a number
of engineered LED headlamps on the market — they range in quality and
performance from pathetic to very good. By a big, big margin the king
daddy of them all is the JW Speaker 8700 Evolution-2 in black or chrome:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075Y1K6YV/?tag=2402507-20 . Those have a
heated-lens option, too, in black
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FR3WSJB/?tag=2402507-20 or chrome
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQY9P4Y/?tag=2402507-20 .
A pretty sizeable step down from there, the 701C from Peterson (in
Peterson or Sylvania Zevo packaging — same lamp) is fairly good,
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MHX979S/?tag=2402507-20 . The Truck-Lite
unit is fairly good,
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007K8AA7I/?tag=wranglerorg-20
, or with heated lens
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0193VFCO0/?tag=wranglerorg-20.
And down from there is a whole lot of knockoff/fraudulent/counterfeit
junk; don't buy."