I own one, we only use it to project our school's
logo transperency at band/choir concerts and other
auditorium events. It works well, but it's not the brightest thing in the world (it sits in a s4). Just the lights from our
bandshell and a basic
wash of front light drowns out the
logo projected onto the
cyc easy. And they the transparencies
fade fairly quick, even though all the
unit does is cools the
transparency. A downside of the
unit, is you have to worry about the fan if it's plugged in or not. If the
fixture is on a sub and the
unit is unplugged, and then some idiot pulls up the sub, the
transparency is just asking to be fried. So it's smart to
power the
unit via a
dimmer and program it to stay at full whenever the
fixture is >0%. Either than that, it's a neat little gadget. It's nice when you need a custom
gobo fast or the money for a custom
gobo isn't worth it for the particular event.
I've always known the source 4 to dominate the competition in performance in every aspect (brightness, sharpness, reliability, rugidness,
etc) except in price (not value). That's why it's used the most. Check the
lens, make sure it's not dirty. And if it's an older
unit, glass does oxidize and wear over time. That could definitely affect things. Make sure your
barrel moves smoothly, the
thumb screw may not be locking the
lens/
barrel into place. I have experienced a few older shakespeares and s4 that tend to slip out of place, knocking the
gobo out of focus. Check out these things. I've always liked the s4
lens over other ellipsoidials, not just because it's brighter. Particularly over the
Strand SL, which is a toy compared to a S4, even the shakespeare. Everything tends to feel a
bit looser on an SL, which probably explains the dull results.