End of the Leko

ship

Senior Team Emeritus
Premium Member
Was doing a bit of research into a mid-90's Strand fixture the other day and I went to the strand website. Instead I got Selcon/Philips lighting fixtures I pulled up and my fixture don't exist of course. Nope no help... never existed.

Strand/Century is a long history in the industry, is it now once bought out by Philips just totally gone as Colortran is with Lee, NSI, or Leviton owning them in Colortan also gone? Saw only Selcon fixtures on the website - nothing from Strand for Leko fixture only Selcon. Think a few people are turning over in their graves at this point.

Really... even if Strand paid hard money for the "Leko" term in dissolving Century in getting it, now it's goine? The leko term of Leko is gone now... it would seem, this as with Colortran for Leviton.

Big busness... , lost tradition. Really the Strand brand name (at least for fixtures) and Leko in term are gone now? Does at least the Euro version of Strand still exist in possessing the stolen from the U.S. Leko name?

Explain please.
 
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I too made this realization a few months back.

It would seem that Philips has set up "Strand" as the control/dimming company, and Selecon as the fixture company. The Fresnelite last I checked, was still being made, making it the last "Strand" fixture still in production. Philips must legally now own the term "Leko", and who knows if we shall ever see the name resurrected. Doubtful at best I'd speculate.

"Strand" Fixtures http://www.strandlighting.com/index...rical&srctype=detail&back=products&refno=1925

As for Leviton owning Colortran, they still make Colortran, and while I haven't seen any new fixtures lately, as of at least a few years ago they were still marking new units as Colortran.

"Colortran" Fixtures Fixtures > Theatrical Equipment > Commercial Lighting > All Leviton Products from Leviton Electrical and Electronic Products

Also, the Philips/Selecon/Strand is planning to release the SPX Ellipsoidal upon the US soon, we shall see if it lives up to the manufacturers claims and truly is the "Source 4 killer". (doubtful ;) )
 
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Strand Lighting hasn't had a fixture named LEKO since 1994.

This post, dated 07/28/09, sums up the situation.
All the Strand fixtures are NO MORE. With the convergence of us and Selecon, we have put all of our priorities, and development into our consoles, architectural controls, and dimming. So any fixture that you have thought of Strand for in the past, will now have to be thought of as Selecon-Strand.

However,
new_Leko_Lite.jpg
Looks a lot like the recently discontinued SL Coolbeam series, doesn't it? Remains to be seen if it will ever come to market.

The "Philips Entertainment Ellipsoidal Family" ranges
Good, Good, Better, Best and encompasses
Acclaim, Leko Lite, SPX, Pacific.

... Does at least the Euro version of Strand still exist in possessing the stolen from the U.S. Leko name?
No fixture bearing the Leko name was ever very successful in Europe. The "new" Leko Lite will only be sold in North America and China. There is no "Euro version of Strand." They closed their London office and UK manufacturing plant, and moved everything to Dallas, which only served to further disenfranchise the Brits.
 
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I have been in theatre that was built around 1990 and is outfitted with Strand Century LekoLites and FresnelLites. The LekoLites there are 4.5" lens diameter with zoom using a 500w EVR lamp.
 
Believe what I read upon the PLSN buyout was very optimistic in doing so. Strand UK would still exist and otherwise I never thought of the demise of a term Leko. On the other hand, perhaps in bought out term for Leko, perhaps it is time to retire it in a good thing as opposed to further bastardizing it in name. Now perhaps all Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotights can be called Leko without refrence as proper.
 
I suppose it depends on whether one thinks it proper to call all portable vinyl dance floor Marley®, or all hardboard Masonite®. ;)

Hey, the Vari-Lite thing is FINALLY dieing out. My students back when I taught called any ERS a Source Four, I think that will become the next "leko".

Really, after the S4 strand never released anything that was worth a crap. Two of the larger Strand distrubutors in the country (Chicago Spot and Vincent Lighting Systems) both hardly installed the SL. Chicago Spotlight picked up Selecon as a distributor about 4-5 years ago and never looked back at strand fixtures. Really, Strand/Phillips did a great thing by picking up Selecon. Yes, they killed off the line, but the line was already dead. I know of at least 10 recent completely strand installs that have source fours hanging instead of SL's. Strand dealers won't even fight you to change to Source Fours. Hopefully the acquisition will drop the price of the selecon fixtures in the US.
 
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Hey, the Vari-Lite thing is FINALLY dyeing out.

What?! Vari-Lites now come in colors?

It's funny. I once saw a job posted for a "Dieing Technician". To top it off, it was a temporary position.
 
Also, the Philips/Selecon/Strand is planning to release the SPX Ellipsoidal upon the US soon, we shall see if it lives up to the manufacturers claims and truly is the "Source 4 killer". (doubtful ;) )

Doubt it. Of course it produces more light, its a higher wattage lamp. Of course its cooler to the touch, its mostly plastic. Also, its gonna be tough to kill the S4 in the US when its recomended lamps are all 200-240V lamps. Just gonna throw that one out there.
 
Doubt it. Of course it produces more light, its a higher wattage lamp. Of course its cooler to the touch, its mostly plastic. Also, its gonna be tough to kill the S4 in the US when its recomended lamps are all 200-240V lamps. Just gonna throw that one out there.

The S4 will die. It has been the best fixture out there for 18 years. It has improved sense then, but there is always something better that could come. When ETC released the S4, nothing compared to it. Who knows what will happen in the next ten years. With LED technology moving as fast as it is, anything could happen. The Strand Leko was also the reigning champion for a long time. Who knows, pretty soon we could be having this discussion involving the Source Four because ETC bought out some LED company to replace its entire line.
 
...The Strand Leko was also the reigning champion for a long time. ...
If I may dispute this statement. While in most iterations, the fixture was optically superior, most users were not willing/able to pay the cost premium, so the Leko never dominated the market in the way that Source Four has.

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As I see it, there are at least five generations of the LekoLite, Leko, or LEKO:

A. The original 1933 by Levy and Kook, which no one seems to have pictures or evidence of. See the article Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight-Ancient History.

B. The rolled-steel 1500-series of the 50s/60s. Not significantly different from copies by Capitol, Altman 360, and others, which cost less and were thus more popular.

C. The die-cast aluminum model of the 1970s. Again, superior to the Altman 360, but didn't sell as well. Almost all of these were gray. I don't know how I got a black one.
Leko2331-1969.jpg
Century #2331

D. The black, axial, aluminum FEL model of the 1980s. Altman 360Q and Berkey-Colortran Ellipsoid were competitors.
Leko2212-1979.jpg
Strand-Century #2212

E. The last LEKO. Assembled in Mexico. Shutters would fall out. Bayonet-style lamp cap. Wouldn't hold a bench focus. Only on the market a few years before the Source Four killed it, and Strand introduced the SL Coolbeam.
Leko2230-1989.jpg
Strand Lighting #2230
 
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I suppose it depends on whether one thinks it proper to call all portable vinyl dance floor Marley®, or all hardboard Masonite®. ;)

I have more than one Century example of "Lekolight" in my museum, and only one so far from Strand that calls itself a Leko. If I have accepted over the years Strand owning the title of Leko, I see it as really bad if now Selcon/Philips now owns it as trademark.

But good points stated in even getting a Tapcon, Drillcon, Dextron, Unistrutetc. On the other hand, such products I think mostly are still owning the brand name as opposed to Leko or Lekolight now a Philips Lighting owned brand name thats' either gone or might be applied to a third brand of fixture at some point isn't something that rides well with me.
 
Hey, the Vari-Lite thing is FINALLY dieing out. My students back when I taught called any ERS a Source Four, I think that will become the next "leko".

Really, after the S4 strand never released anything that was worth a crap. Two of the larger Strand distrubutors in the country (Chicago Spot and Vincent Lighting Systems) both hardly installed the SL. Chicago Spotlight picked up Selecon as a distributor about 4-5 years ago and never looked back at strand fixtures. Really, Strand/Phillips did a great thing by picking up Selecon. Yes, they killed off the line, but the line was already dead. I know of at least 10 recent completely strand installs that have source fours hanging instead of SL's. Strand dealers won't even fight you to change to Source Fours. Hopefully the acquisition will drop the price of the selecon fixtures in the US.

Agreed that business for Strand was probably bad and I wouldn't consider buying them, and have not other than parts for Bambinos over the years. Still though when got my #2209 from Strand off E-Bay and very similar to what I was using in High School in 1985... it was very romantic for me. Specific to the research, I have a #2240 hanging at the end of the museum pipe and possibly proper now to have it so. Never been used and is now an antique.

Just kind of a shame that Strand - have two of their first #73 Leko's in stock from about 1936, now is dead as a Leko suplier. The name brand was there, just took better R&D and pricing to gain back the market. Philips could have saved them as per even the more economy line of fixtures (assuming quality in some way was still there and not totally China sold off.) Perhaps it's best the Strand Leko line went to bed without such dying out pains in destroying the name.
 
[MENTION=182]ship[/MENTION], hopefully you and [MENTION=935]len[/MENTION] and other Chicagoland residents will appreciate this:
My cousin was visiting last week from Yerba Buena, and we decided to go from my house in Niles Center to go downtown to Marshall Field’s to get some tickets for a Reginald Dwight concert at Rosemont Horizon. My mom wanted us to take the train to North Western Station, but my dad’s in Constantinople this week so we thought it would be easier to just drive his Datsun downtown on the Northwest Expressway. My cousin wanted to see stuff along the lakefront, so we cut across Center Street so he could see the Playboy Building on Lincoln Park Boulevard and drove past Municipal Pier. When we got to Achsah Bond Drive, we realized we had gone too far, so we turned on 12th Street over the Illinois Central tracks and finally found a parking space behind an Illinois Bell truck on Sherman Street. We walked up Fifth Avenue and caught a Ravenswood train around the Poly Loop to Field’s but the concert was sold out. We talked about going to a game at Comiskey Park, but decided to just go home, get some Mrs. Japp’s and watch it on WNBQ. During the game there was a news teaser that Sears Tower was changing its name and we were laughing about the stupid idea that anyone would ever call it by a new name.
From Sears Tower is now Willis Tower - Straight Dope Message Board, posted 03/15/09.

...But good points stated in even getting a Tapcon, Drillcon, Dextron, Unistrutetc. On the other hand, such products I think mostly are still owning the brand name as opposed to Leko or Lekolight now a Philips Lighting owned brand name thats' either gone or might be applied to a third brand of fixture at some point isn't something that rides well with me.
Any different than Cooper owning Electronics Diversified, Zero88, the Cam-Lok® connector, and the Crescent® wrench?
 
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If I may dispute this statement. While in most iterations, the fixture was optically superior, most users were not willing/able to pay the cost premium, so the Leko never dominated the market in the way that Source Four has.

--------------
As I see it, there are at least five generations of the LekoLite, Leko, or LEKO:

A. The original 1933 by Levy and Kook, which no one seems to have pictures or evidence of.

B. The rolled-steel 1500-series of the 50s/60s. Not significantly different from copies by Capitol, Altman 360, and others, which cost less and were thus more popular.

C. The die-cast aluminum model of the 1970s. Again, superior to the Altman 360, but didn't sell as well. Almost all of these were gray. I don't know how I got a black one.
View attachment 3446
Century #2331

D. The black, axial, aluminum FEL model of the 1980s. Altman 360Q and Berkey-Colortran Ellipsoid were competitors.
View attachment 3445
Strand-Century #2212

E. The last LEKO. Assembled in Mexico. Shutters would fall out. Bayonet-style lamp cap. Wouldn't hold a bench focus. Only on the market a few years before the Source Four killed it, and Strand introduced the SL Coolbeam.
View attachment 3447
Strand Lighting #2230

I think I dispute your fixture history a bit in age and type but good points. I'll look into the photo of a 1933 photo of a origional Leko though. Very rare photo but I collect old lighting books also.
 
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[MENTION=182]ship[/MENTION], hopefully you and [MENTION=935]len[/MENTION] and other Chicagoland residents will appreciate this:

From Sears Tower is now Willis Tower - Straight Dope Message Board, posted 03/15/09.

Very good point - some of it over my head, some still used... some appreciated in term and point. Niles center did it change in name? How old are you in knowing about such details of Chicago? Now the 'Fields' name really cutts to the hart - I can remember earning my first credit card from them. Did they have concerts? Point well taken though and well presented.
 
If I may dispute this statement. While in most iterations, the fixture was optically superior, most users were not willing/able to pay the cost premium, so the Leko never dominated the market in the way that Source Four has.

Agreed. The Altman 360Q was far more common, especially as the rental shops adopted this fixture, for the reasons Derek stated, not wanting to invest the money in the SC, which WAS a superior fixture to the Altman.

SB
 
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The S4 will die. It has been the best fixture out there for 18 years. It has improved sense then, but there is always something better that could come. When ETC released the S4, nothing compared to it. Who knows what will happen in the next ten years. With LED technology moving as fast as it is, anything could happen. The Strand Leko was also the reigning champion for a long time. Who knows, pretty soon we could be having this discussion involving the Source Four because ETC bought out some LED company to replace its entire line.

I dont doubt it will die, Im just arguing that the SPX elipsoidal is not a likely S4 killer. A S4 killer will need to be brighter than the S4 and use a lot less power, so probably an LED or plasma source (or something we have not heard of yet). Will there be one? yes! But this one? No.
 

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