Strong lights
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JD
Well-Known Member
Not on the Technobeams, but Strong is the standard of the industry on follow spots. The Trouper, Super Trouper, Xeon Gladiator are all built by Strong. Anyone who has run a Strong spot will tell you they are the Rolls Royce of follow spots. It would be hard for me to believe that anything they build would be junk.
Of course anyone who's ever owned any kind of British automobile will likely bore you to tears with how poorly engineered they are and how much time they spend in the shop (grin). Of course if you can AFFORD a Rolls, then it's probable that the cost of service is trivial.
Seriously though, I used Strong Carbon Supers for years and they truly were finely made and great running machines.
But just like the current crop of Korean made automobiles have caught up to the US and some Japanese makes, in terms of quality, I would recommend the Lycian line of spots over Strong.
One big reason. For whatever reason - smaller company, a company concentrating on just spots (Strong is a huge supplier of projection equipment), I find that the ergonomics of the Lycian product line to be superior to Strong. Case in point. The placement of the color boom on the Supers, stuck way out in front of the machine like it's an afterthought. On the Lycian xenon series, it's adjacent to the shutter/dowser. etc... a much more convenient location.
My.02 about Strong, and BTW, the Metropolitan Opera in NYC uses 7 Lycian xenons
SB
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Yeah H.E.S. quit making them a few years back. Strong was looking to get into the market and gave H.E.S. a call and said, "Hey you going to do anything with those? Cause we'll take them." The bought the name and the technology... this all happened in the last 6 months or so. Hasn't been too long.
Yep. They supposedly bought all the dies, the tooling, everything. So buying a new one or a used one, the parts are allegedly the same. And now that a new product is available, I figure the market on used ones will drop more. At least that's my hope. They're a little slow for a moving mirror, but depending on the price used they're worth it, IMO. Best part is you can stand them on the floor without any support as they have a flat base and recessed dmx ports. But if I can find Entours new for within a couple hundred of used TB-I, then I'd probably go with Entours new. Other issue is there's no wash fixture with the TB.
stantonsound
Active Member
I am interested to see a Strong version to see if they make any changes or improvements. I recently found a guy that had 12 brand new HES Technobeams as well as about 40 used for sale just a few miles from me, and have been buying them 4 at a time and installing them in smaller clubs and music venues. With brand new parts coming from Strong, I am not really worried about the repair anymore.
By the way, I have had a few older units for quite some time now and have shipped them across the country several times with almost no repair issues at all. I had a screw fall out of the motor that moves the lens for focus, and that is it.
By the way, I have had a few older units for quite some time now and have shipped them across the country several times with almost no repair issues at all. I had a screw fall out of the motor that moves the lens for focus, and that is it.