Source 4 or Acclaim?

[Munro]

I am looking to purchase some new lanterns. (Profiles, Fresnels, Pebble Convex)

 

which shall I choose, Acclaim or Source 4?

 

I am also on a budget so what are prices like?

 

 

Joe

[Big Jay]

Not hard to find the price if you look :D

 

ETC Price List

Selecon Price List

 

It also depends alot on where you get them from and how many.

 

I would always go for Source 4 becuase I love the optics and if you have the money, the EDLT lenses for a much crisper output.

 

J

 

EDIT: Added the post twice for some reason.

[Munro]

I had a feeling that the source fours were more expensive than the acclaims.

 

Is it really worth it? I seem to remember something about the source fours being able to produce whiter light that some lanterns, because it usually has a yellowy tint to it.

[Russ83]

Is it really worth it? I seem to remember something about the source fours being able to produce whiter light that some lanterns, because it usually has a yellowy tint to it.

I guess that depends on your application and what else you have in the rig. Our school hall uses mainly Selecon because they do the job well and are affordable. When it comes to the end of the year and someone says we have £300 left, are you going to buy a pair of Acclaim Fresnels or one Source 4? We also had a selection of Quartets and a few Acclaims before I started so it didn't make since to add another manufacturer where the light output might not match what we already had.

 

I find the Selecon's very easy to maintain and clean. We have over 30 of their fixtures (Acclaim-Axial, Fresnel, PC, Rama's and Hui's) and in 9 years I've only had a couple of burnt out lamp holders from the oldest fixtures and one of the safety microswitches broke off. They get moved about 10 times a year but refocused maybe another 20 times each so light/moderate use. Only annoyance I have with the Acclaims is the little catch that holds the gel frame in, they do get hot and if the orange washer or whatever it is inside melts they can be a bugger to move.

[Olit]

Having used both, my personal preference is the Source Four it's reliable, well built, got good optics and is stocked by most rental companies so if you do ever wish to add to your rig for one particular show, you have the ability to hire in. One thing I would suggest is work out if buying used is an option? Companies such as Lighting Partners offer a wide range of quality used equipment, so if you are on a budget you may be able to make it stretch to an extra couple of untis compared to new.

 

Hope this helps

 

Oli

[mac.calder]

S4's are in a completely different ballpark to Acclaims - the build quality and optics of a S4 just make the Acclaim look like a toy light - but the S4 is also at a completely different price point - for exactly that reason. If you are looking at getting fixtures in the upper end of the spectrum, the Selecon brand to compare to would probably be the pacifics... The Jury is still out on which is better of the two IMO.

[dbuckley]

If you're on a budget, Acclaims will go a lot further.

 

However Acclaims are a lot brighter than you'd expect from a 650W fixture...

[J Pearce]

What are they for?

What environment, what type of use?

 

Gobos and sharp focus come out better in the S4s, but the acclaims are smaller and lighter. As others have said acclaims aren't really S4 competitors, they're more in the range of S4 Juniors.

 

Have a think about what you need the kit to do, how many of them you need and how many pennies are available.

[RoyF18]

In terms of profiles - Source 4s are leaps and bounds ahead of the Acclaim stuff (I'm guessing you mean S4 Juniors as an Acclaim comparison), you'll get what you pay for (how often do you hear that... maybe because it makes sense). I like the above comparison "S4 just make the Acclaim look like a toy light" - how true! You might get away with the poor build quality if you keep Acclaims in one venue and look after them very well, but taking them on tour is a different matter - they'll just fall apart (I've seen it happen a lot).

No doubt you will choose the Acclaims over the ETC stuff. As is always the case with schools, community stuff etc the initial cost (or lack of it) is really the only thing that matters. The Selecon stuff isn't great, but it's also not awful, and ETC don't make an equivalent fresnel/PC, but in terms of profiles they are no match for a Source 4.

[billy jim]

Having used both Acclaims and Source 4 Juniors in our place (a secondary school theatre), I would choose the Source 4's any day- our Acclaims have been demoted to studio duty, although they do come in handy for random specials when we're really running low!

 

As it's a school, the build quality matters a lot- and we had lots of wobbly bits and things falling off the Acclaims that got binned off this year- no problems with any of our Source 4's though. Also, the Acclaims get hotter much faster, making them really really hard to focus for kids who haven't got the knowledge to be speedy enough yet.

 

For reference, we have 6 Source 4 Juniors, and had about 8 Acclaims. Also had/have some Acclaim Fresnels (12 or 16, I can't remember)- Strand Quartets beat them hands down IMHO (we now own 18).

 

Cheers

Ben

[Munro]

Hi Guys, yes it is a school, but they won't be being moved, only focused. (96 channels, hardwired)

 

I was looking to use strands, and I have a little story to go with this,

 

the strand harmony profiles were designed in the early 1980's, I have no idea when or how many my school bought, all I do know is, I have 4 that are still working perfectly. :-)

 

the strand prelude pcs were designed in the mid 1980's, again, I have no idea when they were bought or how many were bought, all I know is I still have 10 working perfectly, I have some fresnels aswell somewhere.

 

Anyway, strand have stopped making lights! It just passes you over to selecon when you click on the lanterns link on their site!!!

 

Numbers!

18 Fresnels

18 PCs

16 Profiles

20 floods

24 pars

 

what shall I get? Ideally I need to keep the cost for all of it as low as possible.

 

Thanks

Joe

[Joe Bleasdale]

If you are going for Pars and if you need it cheap... 64s would be OK... but if you can spare it go for S4 Pars. They are VERY good. I would always take S4 profiles over... well anything really. My first few semi-pro shows were S4 profiles, then I did another hundred or so shows over 3 months of this year which had S4s in the rig, they behaved perfectly and were given a good battering!

 

Best Regards,

[RoyJ]

We have four acclaim condensor profiles, and they are undoughtedly good.Selecon admit the source 4 has the higher light output, but as has been said allready you get what you pay for.As source 4 only do profiles it may well be worth you looking at multipars or parnels, if your budget doesn't run to etc prices, then the showtec multipars and fresnel pars are well worth a look,they have certainly got me out of trouble on numerous occassions, where you can choose from vnarrow thru to wide.I think basically you pays your money and takes your choice.I do agree, however it is allways worth looking at usedlighting for some real bargains.Keep it illuminated Roy

[AndyJones]

Do you have the power to run all of this? If not how much power DO you have? little point in buying 24 par par 64's if you can only run them at half!

 

Andy Jones

[themadhippy]

I'd go for the aclaims,why? well there cheaper,take the same bubbles as the preludes you've already got and the zooms don't suffer from brewers droop.I recently replaced some prelly profiles with aclaims and was amazed at the difference,they even beat the 1kw cantatas,and were pretty close to the output of the 1kw pacifics .