Moving Lights

[stevieboi]

hi all

 

not wanting to bring up another moving light thread, but has anyone used the stairville mh250s? thoughts? good points? bad points? how do they compare in comparison to the same kind of thing by robe / mac? - on paper they seem quite good? also are any manuals etc available - do stairville have a website?

 

find them here - http://www.thomann.de/gb/stairville_mh250s_moving_head.htm

 

thanks

[Ynot]

not wanting to bring up another moving light thread, but has anyone used the stairville mh250s?

Basically I expect this will be a case of getting what you pay for.

In cheaper moving heads the sacrifices made for the sake of a budget unit are likely to be:

Noise - better quality heads move quieter and have less motor noise for the effects wheels;

Precision - Being able to rely on the lantern pointing at the same spot every time, every performance;

Durability - ML's often see more movement in a rig or in a hire truck than some conventionals, so they need to be engineered to put up with the occasional beating;

Optics - They may look fine on paper, but stick a Stairville up against a Mac/Robe and it'll be no bet as t which comes out brighter/crisper/cleaner.

 

That's just some off the top o' my head thoughts, but I'm sure you get the picture.

Many of these cheaper heads are produced for the mass disco/club market where noise, accuracy, and brightness aren't the top priorities. And a lantern that sits in the same place night in night out MAY have a longer life than one that gets thrown around a hire truck, even if it's a Mac! But then again...................

 

TD

[Trundle]

Isnt this an edzact copy on the ACME queen Spot?

[greenalien]

These are supplied without lamps, worth paying a bit more for a

Philips MSD 250/2

as they have a better life than the slightly cheaper alternatives.

 

All Stairville stuff that I've bought has been good value and reliable; however, once it's out of warranty, who's going to fix it if it goes wrong? With anything at this end of the market, you have to be prepared to chuck things away if / when they break as it's rarely economic to get them fixed, even if you can find someone who can do the job. The second-hand market for such items is pretty much non-existant, whereas you can always find a buyer for 'name brands' like Martin and Clay Paky. As Ynot said, you get what you pay for - and in this case, you're not paying for a worldwide dealer / service network!

So - OK for Mobile DJ and nightclub install, not so good for a hire company. And be prepared to scrap them soon after the warranty runs out! :)

[dogcop]

Hi there,

we have used these movers in our church youth event for 18months now and nothing has gone wrong with them whatsoever.

We also run 4 pearl river 250 movers as well. The Stairville is not in the same league as the pearl rivers, but in a noisy youth event I'm sure the kids don't even notice the difference.

 

The lights look good and it does what it says on the tin and like the previous posters have said it teally depends on the environment you are looking t use them. For theatre work - forget it - rock and roll -fine.

 

If you're near kent you are welcome to come and see them

 

Andy

[Jamtastic3]

We also run 4 pearl river 250 movers as well. The Stairville is not in the same league as the pearl rivers, but in a noisy youth event I'm sure the kids don't even notice the difference.

Going off slightly. What's the difference between the Starville's and PR's in terms of noise, output and 'different league'?

[tokm]

Isnt this an edzact copy on the ACME queen Spot?

No, theyre not like the Acme Queen spot, the queen spot looks like this >> http://www.prolight.co.uk/product_more_inf...dnProductID=243

 

They are however the same bits of kit as the Acme/I solution Emperor Spot, as well as a few other company's branded 250w discharge heads. Its another one of these OEM things from somewhere that just get branded by someone.

 

Going off slightly. What's the difference between the Starville's and PR's in terms of noise, output and 'different league'?

In terms of a general brand comparison PR are much better, even their 150 HTI lamped heads aren't bad up against a rig of P64's & some martin mini macs. I've used 4 of them next to 250+'s and they looked ok, but anything bigger or any of the new 250's basically forget comparison, sure they'll still do a job, just not very well.

 

But like Andy/dogcop said, their fine for rock and roll/gigging/disco'ing or where they're the only thing 'going on'. So it just depends what you want to do with them. So yes O/P, whats your intended use for the heads?

 

HTH

 

Tom

[stevieboi]

hi - sorry to be so long n replying. has anyone found things like manuals for them?

theyll only be used occasionally which is why I cant afford to spend over £1000 on each light for disco / gigging / church youth events all run by me so they wouldnt be hired out as dry hire to anyone so wouldnt be knocked about etc...

 

also is the STAIRVILLE DMX-MASTER I that can be packaged with them any good? also how does one set about doing things like 'striking' (if thats the term) the actual bublbs in the light - can it be done via the above controller or does the light do it itself when turned on?

 

thanks

[tokm]

has anyone found things like manuals for them?

Here's the manual (oh, before someone says.. but thats not the stairville unit, please see my previous post!)http://www.prolight.co.uk/images/products/pdfs/348_5.pdf

 

also is the STAIRVILLE DMX-MASTER I that can be packaged with them any good?

Once again, its another product made by one company, then OEM'd off to a few other's. In this case; Showtec, Botex, Transcension and Stairville. Basically, its a moving light controller than gives you better control over the fixtures than you would get if you were using a 24 channel fader desk like the behringer desk. Its has selection controls so the faders and joystick can control each fixture, one at a time, unlike the aforementioned style of desk where the fader your you have controls an or some DMX channels and thats it. It hasn't got a shape generator so you have to program all your chases yourself. Theirs no fixture libary so you have to set up the fixtures on the desk. Part from that its ok, cheap, does its specified job :)

 

also how does one set about doing things like 'striking' (if thats the term) the actual bulbs in the light - can it be done via the above controller or does the light do it itself when turned on?

No, the lamp strike can't be done via DMX (another thing that sets these apart from more expensive heads).

 

Tom

[Ynot]

theyll only be used occasionally which is why I cant afford to spend over £1000 on each light for disco / gigging / church youth events all run by me

If you're only using these occasionally, why not hire in some decent fixtures on demand?

You can probably get a Mac250 Entour for around £50 or so if you hunt around.

[stevieboi]

just changing the topic slightly - having browsed further down the list at thomann I found a GLP YPOC 250 basic - seems to have more functions than the stairville and a company website? obviously theyre £200 more expensive but are they any better? it appears they can be struck remotely? is this true?

 

find them here - http://glp.de/en/Head_moved_Systems/ypoc_250_basic.html

 

ynot - the reason I dont want to hire is because the church im at would rather see something for the money - even if its cheap - rather than hiring - hiring to them means they have nothing to show for the money spent etc...hope that makes sense

 

thanks

[dogcop]

I've just been on the thomann site and seen that they have the pearl river 250 road kits for 1300 quid.

That includes your flightcase and 2 heads. Much better spec than the Ypocs, although as far as "the what they do and what they are like" question I cannot comment as I have neither seen or used them.

 

I can recommend the the pearl rivers and other posters in this forum have used them and recommended their use.

 

pearl rivers

[tokm]

Tis a nice deal from Thomann.

 

The cases are strong and well built (can stack one on top of the other and you don't go hmm <_< wonder if that'll hold..) The picture seems to show they have no castors, but they do.

 

All in all a good fixture, comparable (in my opinion) to a mac250. There loaded with the same features (remote lamp strike, 16bit DMX, good effects) Brightness wise, there ok. New 250's nock em out a bit, but compared to anything for this price and of this level they're great. I've never owned a set, just used/gigged with them. So can't say what their like for maintenance etc, closest ive come to that was on changing a lamp I head some rattling, opened up the top by removing the quarter turn screws (nice and simple :D) and found it was a piece off the ceramic bit of the lamp. Had a look at the insides.. looked like it would be easy-ish to clean the parts, but looked like a fair few screws.. more than in a mac 250 (of which I have had to service before..)

 

Only bad points are the casing of the fixtures feel rather flimsy, not 100% road proof really and the handles, oww they cut into your hand! Not nice and soft and rubbery like the more expensive heads. Also, their a bit more noise'y (both fans and motors are louder) that macs, but not as bad as the stairville 250w discharge heads.

 

If you've got the money go for them over the stairville ones. Need to balance between more fixtures or more quality..

 

Tom