Comparing LED movers

[HomeGrown]

We're looking at purchasing some LED moving profile fixtures for our inventory. We rent currently but the rental rates are killing us as our runs get longer and we start to do co-productions, so were gonna bite the bullet and raise the money to buy. We want shuttered fixtures. We're looking at the VLZ, Mac Encore, Maverick MK2, and the Robe DL7S, but are completely open to other units.

Would love to hear thoughts! Couple of things first:
-Our electrics are trimmed at around 25' typically. The fixtures need to work for both plays and musicals.
-We're hoping by switching to LED, with all the low color temperatures these fixtures put out, we don't need a tungsten fixture for faces and an ARC one for everything else, but let me know if that is way off base.
-The Maverick MK2 is half the price, so it's the fixture we'd of course love to go with, but other than it not zooming as wide and the VLZ being brighter, is there anything else we should know? Every other metric seems comparable.
-We've ruled out the Robe DL4S, because it doesn't seem bright enough. But tell me if that should be an option as well

 

[josh88]

We just bought 5 mavericks and have another 5 on the way, replacing elation design spots and they've been great. Nicely built, only one of the gobo wheels is changeable easily. You could replace both wheels but its difficult to get to the front wheel. They're quiet, plenty bright and the shutters are nice.

 

[derekleffew]

We're looking at the VLZ, Mac Encore, Maverick MK2, and the Robe DL7S, but are completely open to other units.

https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/highend-solaspot1000.43044/
ETC Lustr2Revolution.

 

[danTt]

I'd definitely try to get in demos of most/all of these units. Marketting people play all sorts of tricks with numbers on specs, and it's good to see the units in your space and your usecase to determine what the best fit for you is, especially given that this will be a large investment.

In terms of the specific fixtures you're looking at, only the DL7/DL4 does addititve/LED color mixing. The others are all white LED with CMY mixing. This may be more familiar to you, but I find it a bit silly and limiting (given that the largest benefit of LED is additive mixing/not losing intensity in saturated colors). It also introduces more moving parts to break/maintain. The DL7 does a "virtual" CMY or RGB mixing that gives you the familiar wheels but translates that across the array to achieve a final look. You also get a lot more software tricks that allow for variable CRI/CTO/color temp internally.

I would rule out the VLZ immediately. Varilite used to be a fantastic company, but since Phillips bought them I've felt their results have been lackluster and unideal. Support/parts/etc through the Phillips beast is also terrible.

I've not tried the Chauvet gear, but I still put chauvet on a lower tier than manufacturers like martin and robe. There's a reason that the fixtures are half the price. Do the demo, and decide if you'd rather have twice as many fixtures for half as long. Depending on your usecase sometimes thats great, but if this is a big capital investment for your company I'd think hard about the company itself.

The VLZ/Maverick/Encore all have ~450watt white LED engines. The DL7 is a 700watt (total) engine. The DL4 is a 400watt engine. Did you do a shootout to rule out the DL4 or are you going based on spec sheets?

 

[Chase P.]

Ooo! Can you get all the various vendors to demo at the same time? You could start a reality tv show, with elimination rounds. We could vote equipment off stage left instead of off the island. The rigging episode would give all new meaning to "You are the weakest link".

Seriously though, good to know that you can get them to come show you what the unit can do in your space. See if it hits the spot, so to speak.

 

[JohnD]

In addition to the High End Solaspot, take a look at the Solaframe too, in several sizes.
Ayrton has branched out into the moving spot area with several models.
Their framing model is the GHIBLI:
www.ayrton.eu/produit/ghibli/
Their newest model is the Mistral-TC.

 

[danTt]

In addition to the High End Solaspot, take a look at the Solaframe too, in several sizes.
Ayrton has branched out into the moving spot area with several models.
Their framing model is the GHIBLI:
www.ayrton.eu/produit/ghibli/
Their newest model is the Mistral-TC.

7500K native white seems like a terrible choice. It certainly "appears" brighter, but you're going to lose intensity as soon as you start trying to match any other unit in existence.

 

[DooGooRoo]

I've used 'Highend system SolaFrame Theatre' for a year.
I'd surely like to recommend it.

https://www.highend.com/documentation/SolaFrame Theatre/SolaFrame-Theatre-TDS.pdf

It has a shutter, High CRI, and great functions.
It doesn't have a cooling fan, so it's so quiet!!!!
It has a theatrical dimming mode option for TV, Cameras.
Brightness was my biggest concern of it, but no complain.
440W LED engine, but much brighter than the other 400w LED engine moving lights. (and still provide good CTO for using it with our existed tungsten lights)

We purchased it last year.
We were looking for LED mover with same reason like yours.
We need to use it for variety situation & event. (concert, play, musical, dance, regular service..)
We need shutter option and good CRI & CTO.
The Silent option(no cooling fan) is really really great for us.

If you are investing for future, I surely recommend not to go for cheap moving lights.(especially LED)
I'd rule out the VLZ, Maveric, DL4. (I did when we purchased.)
Robe DL7 might be fine, but I'm not sure for the brightness. (didn't get a chance to try demo.)
Robe DL7 is few K expensive than Highend SolaFrame Theatre.

And Brightness is important option, but not all if you'll use the lights for play & musical.

IMO, Martin Mac Encore Performance would be a good choice, too.
The color seems like much better than other LED moving lights by the provided data. (I like Mac Viper performance's color & function.)
And it's quiet like SolaFrame Theatre, but much lighter & smaller than SolaFrame. (SolaFrame is 100lb, Mac Encore performance is 68lb)
I look forward to get a chance of demo it.