Bzzzt! That Sylvania Xenarc kit was made, believe it or not, by a
trinketmaker in a basement workshop in Taiwan. He had marginal ability to
design an functional glovebox light, let alone a headlamp, but his North
American representative put together a slick enough presentation that
Sylvania took the bait. Performance was significantly worse than even a $7
non-halogen sealed beam. Durability was the pits (lens turned yellow and
frosty and/or fell off the reflector in under a year). Sylvania had hoped
to use that product to increase market awareness and acceptance of HID
headlamps in North America, because it was (and is) lagging behind Europe.
The effort backfired very badly because of the crap quality and
performance; Sylvania quietly discontinued them and remaindered them off
at firesale prices to a guy out West who is currently hyping them up on
his website, claiming they are "generation 2" units, whatever that's
supposed to mean (nothing).

Remember, just because there's a name on the (fancy, expensive) box that
you recognise, does NOT mean it's necessarily a good product.

The packaging was very slick, for sure. If the same amount of thought,
engineering and design had gone into the lamps inside, they might've been
worth a toss.

You bought Sylvania Xtravisions, one of the last honest products left in
Sylvania's line.

As for Silverstars:
Remember, just because there's a name on the (fancy, expensive) box that
you recognise, does NOT mean it's necessarily a good product.

DS