Automated Fixtures - Low-priced Moving Lights

[OTO1702]

Hello All

I am looking into purchassing some moving heads but my budget is pretty low - Can someone recomends some 250Watts moving heads aroud 500$ US

I am willing to buy 4 - Used or new


Thanks !

OTO

[soundlight]

What's the application?

You do know that the only fixtures in that price range are the bottom of the barrel DJ fixtures, right?

[icewolf08]

First off, welcome to the booth, you might consider stopping by the New Member Forum and saying hi!

Now, on to your question, but first I have some questions for you. What is your venue? How big is it, what is the throw? What do you need/want your moving lights to be able to do? What kind of controller/console do you have? Why do you want moving lights? Do you have the resources and budget to maintain them (think $100+ per lamp)? How often will they get used?

I ask all these things because if you are looking at $500 per fixture you aren't going to find much of anything worth spending money on, used or new. If you are looking for moving lights you need to budget a minimum of $1K for a 250W fixture, and even that is low for decent fixtures. Even cheap American DJ fixtures will run you more that $500 and it probably is not worth it to buy them used (if at all). I would suggest either saving money to purchase good instruments, or rent fixtures as you need them.

[OTO1702]

Well Thank you for the welcome message !

Ok, here is some of the awnsers I got ! I have a little audio compagny doing some corporate events, now I do large Party ( 500 to 2000 personns) and in these partys I usually have a rock section and a dance section. These are the biggest one I do.

But usually I have small venues ( up to 400 persons) each week where I have music bands. I have in my pocession a lots of Pars 56 and 64, dimmers, consoles ... some LED effect like the Mystic Led or vue or maia, The colorstrips and some Stage movers from Chauvet. These are all really nice effects but when I worked with some MAC250's it was an other story !

The movings are to be used often on some floor bases or on some 2' truss, we can get very nice effects ... I have saw on the chineese market some ligth that I found not so bad, these are the eagle 250 -

http://en.chuangyilight.com/ProductShow.asp?ID=23

These lamps are sold around 500$US and the shipping is around 100$ from China. I have tried them and they are not so bad but I am not a specialist. I preffer buying something from here (Canada or US) than from china. By the way I am in Montreal Canada !

Now, if possible to recommend a nice fixture that I can use for live concerts as well as big events. I will be happy.
Thanks a lot !

OTO

[icewolf08]

I would look at fixtures from Elation, they make good products and are a very good up-and-coming manufacturer. I would look at American DJ and Chauvet before I went to any Chinese companies. Why? Because companies like Elation and AMDJ and Chauvet are not going anywhere, whereas the Chinese companies may not be around tomorrow.

The fixture you mentioned looks like a knock off of a knock off. The lamp for those and the Elation DesignSpot 250 and the Martin MAC250 Krypton is the MSD250/2 which sells for $124.

[OTO1702]

Thanks for your quick reply !

By the way, I use enttec Pro with Chamsys and Freestyler to control all the fixtures I have.

So you mean that the Eagle 250 are a good deal ? What if there is an other buisness in montreal using them - They offered me to service them. An other thing is that the roadcases are included in the price.

My regards,

OtO

[lieperjp]

Originally Posted by OTO1702

Thanks for your quick reply !

By the way, I use enttec Pro with Chamsys and Freestyler to control all the fixtures I have.

So you mean that the Eagle 250 are a good deal ? What if there is an other buisness in montreal using them - They offered me to service them. An other thing is that the roadcases are included in the price.

My regards,

OtO

I think what others are saying is that it probably would not be a good idea to go with the Chinese knock-offs. Sure, you might get lucky and get great fixtures that work fine, but you're more likely to get a fixture that will be more hassle than they're worth. If you have another business that can service them, that's great! But how expensive are parts, and how quickly do they come in? If it takes six-eight weeks for a new part to come in from China, is it really worth it? Where if you buy a Martin fixture, you'd only have to wait a few days at most for a new part, especially since the parts are common and any Martin qualified serivice shop should have one or two around.

Also, as Alex asked, can you afford to re-lamp at $124 each???

[OTO1702]

Sorry for my english ! I am not really fluent.

Now, I understand a bit more - The best thing for me is to buy better fixtures. I 'll have to wait and gain more money ! Yes, I can afford the replacement lamps - they are usually good for 2000hrs ? I guess...

Thanks,

OTO

[lieperjp]

Originally Posted by OTO1702

Sorry for my english ! I am not really fluent.

Ha, we've had worse... We're glad to help.

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by OTO1702

...Yes, I can afford the replacement lamps - they are usually good for 2000hrs ? I guess...

From the manual cited above: "MSD lamp' s average life is 750 hours, please check if it works out before replace it."

Other sites list the MSD 250 GY9.5 Single ended Discharge Lamp's life at 2000 hours, and the MSD 250/2 at 3000 hours. In any case, degradation of color and/or intensity often requires discharge lamps to be replaced long before their rated life.