I'd say the SS nodes are as bright or brighter as C9's. I might see if I can get some actual lux readings over the weekend. Another thing to consider is the nodes are spaced ~2.5 inches while C9's are probably closer to 12".
As additional anecdotal evidence, I was trying to find a color and brightness for a node to approximate white miniature lights. The node RGB color combo was 60,31,07. So red at about 23% output, green at 12% and blue at 3%...there is certainly room to be a lot brighter.