School leko/Ellipsoidal recommendations on a budget

[In-San1ty]

Hello everyone! First post
I’m a high school student in Japan.
This year I was able to get a small budget to upgrade the systems in the auditorium of the old campus.

I have 750-1000USD left in my budget to figure out something for front lighting from middle of house (Yes I know I won’t be getting anything great with that amount of money)
I’m not looking for anything fancy, just need to be able to see people’s faces with white light
The throw distance is roughly 14 meters (45ft)
I’m thinking to get 6 lekos, 3 each on left and right

The Source 4 19deg seemed like a good option but is too expensive. 10kused quoted me 1300usd + import fees for 6 of them (expensive shipping)
I’ve also tried asking around some theaters and concert halls I’ve worked in the past, but they all said no.

I did get lucky once and a theatre offered me some Source 4 LEDs if I paid shipping, but suddenly changed their decision because some of his lights died

Are there any half decent options for lekos that are cheaper? (And has cheap bulb options)

 

[soundman]

Shipping and import fees will wreck your budget for anything not local. Have you tried reaching out to any lighting rental companies? I was in Japan over the summer for some stadium shows and the local lighting companies seemed to be top notch with a lot of new gear, perhaps they sell their old equipment. Sadly I don't have a company name to give you.

 

[In-San1ty]

Shipping and import fees will wreck your budget for anything not local. Have you tried reaching out to any lighting rental companies? I was in Japan over the summer for some stadium shows and the local lighting companies seemed to be top notch with a lot of new gear, perhaps they sell their old equipment. Sadly I don't have a company name to give you.

Yea I’ve spent quite a lot of time trying to find somewhere that sells second hand equipment with no luck
Do you think I should just email them directly to ask?

 

[TimMc]

Yea I’ve spent quite a lot of time trying to find somewhere that sells second hand equipment with no luck
Do you think I should just email them directly to ask?

My American forwardness thinks there is no harm in asking for whomever handles surplussed inventory. Somebody has the job of dealing with the back end of the equipment life cycle.

 

[In-San1ty]

My American forwardness thinks there is no harm in asking for whomever handles surplussed inventory. Somebody has the job of dealing with the back end of the equipment life cycle.

Yea I’ll try and send a few emails.
Japan’s a bit different… so might be a bit hard

 

[TimMc]

Yea I’ll try and send a few emails.
Japan’s a bit different… so might be a bit hard

I wondered if there might a cultural "status" issue, cheeky student-kind-of-thing. Is disposal of surplus inventory a touchy thing in Japan? I don't want to encourage anything that would be seen as an indiscretion.

 

[In-San1ty]

I wondered if there might a cultural "status" issue, cheeky student-kind-of-thing. Is disposal of surplus inventory a touchy thing in Japan? I don't want to encourage anything that would be seen as an indiscretion.

I don’t think disposal of surplus is touchy or anything but
Yes there is a part of cultural status
and stubbornness (idk if it’s the right word) of not being able to change the way things are done or do something different

Biggest problem for me is actually finding somewhere that has a surplus

 

[soundman]

PRG has a few offices over there - in the states they have a division to sell their gear and a used 19 degree source four sells for $150 not sure if that includes a clamp, lamp and plug.

http://www.kenpro-inc.com/ looks like the ETC dealer for Japan, it would be worth an introduction email to ask if they have any units in country already. Is there a school advisor or admin that might send an email on your behalf?

 

[In-San1ty]

PRG has a few offices over there - in the states they have a division to sell their gear and a used 19 degree source four sells for $150 not sure if that includes a clamp, lamp and plug.

http://www.kenpro-inc.com/ looks like the ETC dealer for Japan, it would be worth an introduction email to ask if they have any units in country already. Is there a school advisor or admin that might send an email on your behalf?

PRG has office in Japan?

Kenpro I will send email and ask if they have any units and how much. But I don’t think they deal with used source fours.
No, staff really wants to do this kinda stuff, responsibility is me. When I make the list, there is a staff to make sure I’m not buying any Starbucks gift cards but apart from that, no staff input

I might have found a half decent alternative https://www.thomannmusic.com/stairville_revueled_150_profile_3200k.htm but I can only afford 3
Is there any generic/aliexpress profile spots that are half decent and cheaper (and is listed on Amazon, can’t buy from AliE)

 

[soundman]

They sure do - https://www.prg.com/en-GB/Global/Japan#leadership

I can't speak to any alternatives but the one you linked is LED and will not require a dimmer to control. It will require constant power and DMX at it's location which may or may not be a benefit for you.

 

[In-San1ty]

They sure do - https://www.prg.com/en-GB/Global/Japan#leadership

I can't speak to any alternatives but the one you linked is LED and will not require a dimmer to control. It will require constant power and DMX at it's location which may or may not be a benefit for you.

DMX is huge plus. Much simpler rigging/cabling and I don’t have to buy dimmers. Also can run all of them on 1 circuit

I’ll check PRG tysm
Edit: I think PRG Japan is for integration and not selling second hand stuff

 

[FMEng]

Try ebay

 

[In-San1ty]

Try ebay

Not allowed by school and expensive shipping

 

[FMEng]

Not allowed by school and expensive shipping

I assume ebay has sellers in Japan, and you can use it to find used equipment dealers in your country. A lot of ebay sellers will do business directly, too.

 

[JMBrowne]

Hello everyone! First post
I’m a high school student in Japan.
This year I was able to get a small budget to upgrade the systems in the auditorium of the old campus.

I have 750-1000USD left in my budget to figure out something for front lighting from middle of house (Yes I know I won’t be getting anything great with that amount of money)
I’m not looking for anything fancy, just need to be able to see people’s faces with white light
The throw distance is roughly 14 meters (45ft)
I’m thinking to get 6 lekos, 3 each on left and right

The Source 4 19deg seemed like a good option but is too expensive. 10kused quoted me 1300usd + import fees for 6 of them (expensive shipping)
I’ve also tried asking around some theaters and concert halls I’ve worked in the past, but they all said no.

I did get lucky once and a theatre offered me some Source 4 LEDs if I paid shipping, but suddenly changed their decision because some of his lights died

Are there any half decent options for lekos that are cheaper? (And has cheap bulb options)

If you can find used conventional Source4's you will have excellent lighting.

In the US and Europe there is such a push to move to LED (which is somewhat driven by poor assumptions by clients) that these fixtures are available if you are just willing to go pick them up. I'm not sure what the market looks like in Japan, but I would just call around. You should eventually find plenty of fixtures for well within your budget with money to spare for lamps (they're not expensive and last a long time for a school).