Help me spend my money: A5 edition

[Señor Leo]

I just picked up an A5 parts lot. Turns out there were enough pieces included to build an A5 minus the entire valve assembly and hammer rubber bumper. Lot included a cocker barrel adapter, looks like upgraded cyclone paddles and the other cyclone parts, and a Shocktech bottom line adapter. And I happened to already have an upgraded hopper with speed feed in my box of hoppers.

1. Should I pick up a stock valve? Or is there an aftermarket valve that will perform better?

2. I'm a sucker for anodized aluminum. I've seen some aluminum power tubes online. Worth buying, or a waste of money?

3. What's the best rear velocity adjuster?

4. Any other recommended "upgrades"? (The word upgrades in quotes because I know that can be subjective and some upgrades don't do anything but look cool, and I embrace that)

[Cdn_Cuda]

1) stock valve is fine. Why mess with a good thing?

2) Aluminum powertube are fine but you never see it and not really worth the cost.

3) I’ve never used a RVA on an A-5.

Response trigger is always an option. You can throw in a Zero kit bolt if you really wanted. Put an on/off. Maybe give it a custom paint job if you want to make it look fancy? Or find one of those body kits. They are usually really heavy though.

My A-5 has a R/T trigger, zero kick bolt, regulator, on/off, JJ barrel, soft paddles, and cocker to A5 adaptor.

[BrickHaus]

1. I dont think anyone ever made aftermarket valves. But make sure you get a late gen valve with higher flow air passageways for cyclone and rt support.

2 in my a5 days I had a jcs gold power tube. It didnt have the hole for the fva. So you were supposed to get it for rva set ups to allow a better air jet hitting the ball. Being you are looking into rva options, Id try to find one of those, or another brand with no fva screw. They wont offer much but a n8ce crack to your markers report, and or the lack of a screw.

3.only RVA I ever thought was worth a damn was JCS. And thats cuz it worked, and you could add their stock to it. Though, aid condider a high regulator that can give higher pressures, and try to spring it right with a your rva vqcked all the way out that you can adjust velocity on your hpr. Thats how I ran mine when I played with it, and I had mine working at about 650 psi.

4. always loved a5a2 forward grips. If I got another a5 Id find an a2 grip for it. That or an RT mod with all the large hoses and such. Something about that old school kickback piston made a well tuned at rt so much fun to shoot.

[Tinybear]

A5s can be a lot of fun. Last one I had I converted it to hopper fed (worked well). Can’t remember who made the adapter. Had one that way and Built another one I built into a mag fed beast. I still have a bunch of parts somewhere I should find one day and perhaps build another A5.

[2cBillB]

On eBay look up Tippmann a5 phenom direct feed elbow adapter performance kit. It is $46.92 If you want to go that route. I don't have any personal experience with it but I was considering it for my a5.

[glaman5266]

1: Nope, stock valve is fine. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

2: JCS made two power tubes- a red one with the velocity adjustment screw where it normally is, and a gold one that required a RVA. I personally don't think they're worth the cost. Also, good luck finding either one.
If you're set on using a RVA the gold power tube might be nice to simplify your valve body. (eliminates the factory velocity adjustment screw) But, again, I haven't seen one for sale for a long time now.

4: I like the RT kits.
Older style Flatlines are nice. The cylindrical ones. The incline/bend in the barrel used to create backspin isn't as aggressive as the newer style Flatlines (the one with the plastic foregrip). I've read the newer ones are more prone to barrel breaks because of this.
Take off the front and rear sights. Use the "fins" on the rear of the body as your sight. Cleans up your sight picture. This one's just my preference, though.