Blizzard LB Par Quad

[jalco99]

I work at a high school theater. Always wanted LED pars for color but never thought we could afford them. For a recent community theater show, an actor (and part time DJ) loaned four American DJ Mega Par Pro's, which I never thought would be useful, but actually added nice color in certain scenes. When I realized how cheap they are it made me take another look at LED.

Obviously we want higher quality fixture, but our budget is limited to $2,000 or so that I can raise from sponsorships from local businesses and community groups. I've been looking at blizzard, particularly the new LB Par Quad RGBA or RGBW, and eight pack for $1299. Is this a smart idea or would we be throwing away our money? Is there something better? Or is this an unattainable goal given our budge?

The stage is 44' wide, 34' deep, lights hung from 20' (w/ DMX access). We have an ETC element. Used for two or three plays a year, several dance performances, band concerts, and school events (talent shows and things of that nature).

 

[soundlight]

The LB Pars are the cheapo fixtures of the line. Plastic construction, and they make no mention of flicker-free high-frequency LED drivers as the do on their other products that have them, so odds are there will be horrible LED flicker if you try to film with them on - which I'm sure someone will.

What lights will they be competing with? I don't want to yet say your goal is unattainable, but you may need to purchase in phases to get as many units as you want. There are affordable LEDs, and then there are just plain cheap LEDs. You don't want to get the just plain cheap ones.

 

[TheaterEd]

8 fixtures aren't going to go very far in a space your size. Last year I purchased 21 Blizzard Hotbox5 fixtures to serve as my top / back wash fixtures. They are a big step up in quality and work fantastic for theatrical pieces. I like them quite a bit. Like you, I was originally looking at a cheaper fixture, but when I saw the two next to each other, I had to go with the hotbox.

 

[rsmentele]

I would echo the advice of stepping up to a higher fixture... get as many as you can with your budget and add more as additional money becomes available.

Low end fixtures have HORRIBLE dimming curves and being a theatrical performance space, your clients are going to HATE the low end quality

 

[jalco99]

Wow I didn't notice the flicker issue, thanks for your help, soundlight.

It's weird I looked at the Hot Box 5 specs and it has lower lux output and the same beam angle as the LB quad. I assumed that meant LB would be better. Am I misinterpreting?

What kind of fixtures would you recommend this type of space on this budget?

 

[soundlight]

Pretty sure the Hot Box wouldn't be quite as bright, but it's a much higher quality fixture, and has the aforementioned high-frequency dimming drivers to prevent video flicker. The dimming curve on the LB Pars probably is not nearly as smooth, either. They're designed to be budget fixtures, set & forget uplights or flash-n-trash stage lights for DJs and the like.

Hotbox units might be the way to go, given how affordable they are for the output. Personally, I don't think they'd have enough output unless you purchased in larger quantities - like the 21 mentioned above.

Definitely get a demo of whatever units you look in to before purchasing.