Automated Fixtures Quiet Moving Head LED fixtures

TeeDeeDon

Member
I work in a 110 seat black box which produces intimate theater in thrust or arena staging. Since the "grid" is about 14' off the deck, the noise from dimmers that are currently in the air is sometimes distracting. So we are looking to upgrade to LED fixtures so we are not using these dimmers. I am finding that for the price of conventional LED fixtures, like the ETC Luster 2, movers are an economic possibility. This would be nice since all of our FOH positions are above audience seats which have to be moved in order to focus. I know that you get what you pay for and the quieter the fixture, the more money you pay. I am also looking for fixtures that fade well and don't drop at the end. Because of our low ceiling height, brightness is not as much an issue since we currently have Source 4 Jrs that are lamped down to 375 watts and we rarely take them past 80%. The ability to zoom would be nice, butin the 30 -60 degree range. We produce 6 shows a season with 5 or 6 week runs plus special events, so I also need something that is reliable and will last for the next 10 or so years.
Has anyone found fixtures that are both silent and reasonably priced, and still reliable? I am looking for both wash and profile fixtures. Bonus if you found that unicorn of a profile fixture that also has shutters. Or is the technology still too new to be at the price point that I am look for?
 
What is your budget? Are you hoping to find a quality led mover at 1:1 for a lustr? That won't happen. Those movers will be terrible. You're probably looking at 5-10k for a quality profile depending on specifics, much less for a wash.
 
I encourage you to call around to your local houses and see what is available to go listen to. If noise is that big a problem in your environment, movers might not be for you. They might be silent when they are still, but everything makes some noise when it moves. They will also take significant maintenance over a 10 years. Anything with shutters is going to be at least 7k each, unless you're buying old used gear. And those won't be quiet.
 
My budget is dependent on what is available. I am planning on doing this in stages, so maybe wash movers this year and profile movers next year when I have had more time to fund raise. But I want to get the most bang for my buck, which is why I posted here. Since there is generally music playing during scene changes, the noise of the movement isn't as big of a factor as fan noise when idle. We have used borrowed Elation ZFX Pros and with the fan setting on the lowest, it works with my current level of ambient noise. I plan on doing in house testing once I have a short list. Right now, the Martin Rush MH 6 Wash, the Martin Mac Aura, and the Robe Robin DL4s Profile would be on that short list to test for noise. I am just wondering if there are others to add to the list?
 
What about getting a colorsource spot and an i-cue moving mirror?

They don't work too well for washes, but you could use an apollo right arm with a colorsource par instead.

I would question the use of ique in this space. There are limits on the beam spread an ique can handle. IE I don't believe a 50 degree lens would work. Not sure about a 36 degree. If you explore this option, get a unit on demo and check out what spread you can get.

The other thing to watch closely is the dimming curve especially at the low end. You want to have the fixture fade up from black slowly enough that you don't see it click on. The only two manufacturers I have see that have solved this issue ( there may be more ) are Chauvet and ETC. YMMV
 

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