Automated Fixtures HES Technospot

[soundlight]

Yes, you read that right, not Technobeam, Technospot. A new 575 watt moving head profile from HES.

High End Systems Technospot™:
High efficiency 12,000 lumens
575w mini-fast fit lamp - 750 hrs.
Fast 4:1 zoom - 11°-44°
CMY color mixing
Color wheel with eight replaceable positions plus open
Two six position plus open rotating gobo wheels
Rotating 4-facet prism
Animation wheel
Mechanical strobe
Fast mechanical iris
LCD menu system
Low ambient noise
RDM compatible
optional roadcase

Physical:
89.29 lbs
32.18" Tall
18.87" x 13.77" Base

Technospot

Since when are 575 watt fixtures 32 inches tall and almost 90 pounds? I thought that was 1200 watt fixtures???

 

[len]

Unless it's REALLY efficient and bright, 90# is way too much for a 575. IMO, a 250 watt should be under 50#, a 575 should be 65# or less, and then up from there. Assuming that on a job where a 250 watt is sufficient, you also have less staff, which means that one crew should be able to position a fixture. Larger show = larger wattage lights = bigger budget = heavier equipment.

 

[lightman02]

Unless it's REALLY efficient and bright, 90# is way too much for a 575. IMO, a 250 watt should be under 50#, a 575 should be 65# or less, and then up from there. Assuming that on a job where a 250 watt is sufficient, you also have less staff, which means that one crew should be able to position a fixture. Larger show = larger wattage lights = bigger budget = heavier equipment.

12,000 Lum out of a 575 watt bulb is very good. It is supposed to have almost the same features as the Intellaspot which is pretty cool. However it is heavy and if High End is going to charge anywhere near 12k for the unit then they are barking up the wrong tree. I always loved High End's support but why are they making new 575W fixtures when everyone is into Mac3's right now. It almost seems that they still don't get it that most lights touring are Vari-Lite and Martin right now. To little to late.

 

[Wood4321]

12,000 Lum out of a 575 watt bulb is very good. It is supposed to have almost the same features as the Intellaspot which is pretty cool. However it is heavy and if High End is going to charge anywhere near 12k for the unit then they are barking up the wrong tree. I always loved High End's support but why are they making new 575W fixtures when everyone is into Mac3's right now. It almost seems that they still don't get it that most lights touring are Vari-Lite and Martin right now. To little to late.

I agree,
I am completely unimpressed with both the intellispot and the Technospot.
Both are much too large and heavy for what they do.
However, the New VL880 looks like a rockstar! I can't wait to see it in person.

Joshua Wood

 

[soundlight]

I can't wait to see the new VLs either - soon after there are some demo models out with the reps they will be stopping by my shop and I'm looking forward to that.

Just to put it in to perspective, the Technospot - a 575 watt fixture - weights as much and is roughly as big as the VL3000 spot, a 1200 watt fixture with one of the best featuresets in its class.

I'm going to have to agree with lightman02 that this is too little too late.

 

[muvment]

I have been a High End enthusiast since the Intellabeam and its the reason I work in lighting. But I have to admit, High End is on the wrong track and not putting out very respectable conventional moving fixtures. I don't even understand the point of the Technospot. It has no features above and beyond every single other fixture in its class. Maybe it has a bit higher of an output, but not really any better than a 700w fixture, which is pretty much in the same class (and lighter than this).

If they wanted to get competitive in this market sector, perhaps they should have gone in the Martin direction with something akin to the Mac 350. Because I'm guessing that the 2nd generation of the Mac350 will have these features & output, but with an LED source and much, much, MUCH smaller form factor and weight.

Disclaimer: I have never been much of a fan of Martin, but they really turned me around w/ their Mac 101 & Mac 350. Now, Martin, Clay Paky, & VL are the only products I'll rent.

 

[muvment]

Also, I bet a Mac 2k currently rents cheaper than this unit will.

 

[soundlight]

New moving lights on the market today should have the "WOW factor" when I see them for a demo. WOW is in all caps because if it is going to make a splash these days it needs to be very different. When Robe brought in the LEDwash 600, everyone in the shop agreed that it definitely had the WOW. Now if only it would become popular in the US we could buy some to rent out - because I love that fixture. When the MAC101 was in for a demo, we all agreed that it had the WOW factor. It was tiny and lightweight and stupid bright and it looked like there was haze in the room when there was just dust because of how intense the beam was. When VL brings in their new fixtures the WOW factor will already be there - the fixtures in weight and size are in the 250 class but they are ever so much brighter and absolutely packed with features - and VLs are wonderful fixtures all around.

I've hopefully got something really cool coming up that involves MAC101s. I'll post it when that happens.

I find it sad that HES has stopped producing good bread and butter moving heads and has gone on to all of these odd specialty fixtures. I love the DLs and Show-whatevers and all, but the Studio 575 series is still a wonderful line of products. I work with 575 Spots & Colors regularly and they are decent fixtures still and are easy to work on when they do have issues (which isn't all that often). I am also a fan of the Studio Beam, which was one of the only PC fixtures out there as far as moving heads go. The color saturation was wonderful and the zoom range was nice. The electronic strobing is also wonderful on those fixtures. And it fit in the housing of a Studio 250, which meant tiny cases for double pack - cases less than half the size of other double moving head cases for fixtures in that class.

I just don't see that when everyone is making basic spot fixtures fixtures smaller and smaller and lighter and lighter that HES is going off in the massive, heavy and two-man-lift-only. Yes, the MACIII is all of those things, but it is also a 1500 watt fixture with an unmatched optical system and gobos that you feel like you should be able to reach out and touch because they're so sharp when in focus. The Intellaspot doesn't really have that as much and I'm sure that the Technospot won't either, since part of that is the fact that there's a 1500 watt lamp behind it. MACIIIs are phenomenal, 'nuff said.

I miss the old, old HES fixtures. The Intellabeam, where you could tell it to go from open white to a color and a gobo and it would be there faster than you could think. I liked a color wheel that could be snapped as an effect. I liked a gobo wheel that I didn't have to worry about live gobo changes with. Oh, and I'm only 23 - we had Intellabeams at the college I went to, and I still love those things when I see them in use.

 

[techno89]

I must say I too am I really big fan of the the Studio Spots, my community theatre has 4 of them and while they do have issues its expected because at this point they're probably 10 years old but they still work great. Anything thats wrong with any of them could probably be fixed with a very cheap part.