Led par lighting price question

[angellust17]

Hello guys I'm a newguy here, and I'm generally new to lighting design.

 

Till now I've been working as a lighting engineer in a couple PA companies in my countries, usually using traditional lighting with dimmers and normal bulbs, lately a new pa company I've been working with decides to buy some Led par cans, so I've been checking the price for generally low priced ones and came across this question.

 

 

The least price I found in my country for a 56 led par can is around 90-120 euro (example : http://www.djmania.gr/el/shop/16-/64-led-p...led-par-56-rgb) "

 

while as "thomman.de" for example has 56 led par cans for as low as 35 euros . example ( http://www.thomann.de/gr/stairville_led_pa...alu_schwarz.htm )

 

Anyone knows if there any diffrenece between them? sorry if my question sounds too newbish :** laughs out loud **:

[sleah]

Please fill in your location details B-)

 

The cheap ones are probably 5mm LEDs which are not nearly as bright as 10mm - they are the bottom end of the scale - and if you want better performance than screwing in an old R80 bulb :** laughs out loud **: then 10mm or better 1w or 3w is the way forward.

You'll find the cheaper ones less reliable, there are many more reports of failed LEDs from the cheap virtually unkown makes. getting spare parts will be hard too, OK so generic LEDs will probably do the job, but if it's any other fault then they are a throw away item.

 

Personally I'd be looking mid-priced or above, or stick with halogen :P

[Richard CSL]

I have used many Thomann ones and had no problems, remember they come with a 3 year warrentee. I put 8 of them on a band in a venue and they proved to be too bright, I had to reduce the brightness of all my scenes to keep the band happy. So I dont think brightness is really an issue. However beam spread is. 8 was just enough spread for a 6M wide stage at a distance of roughly 6M from the stage.

[dmoffat]

Nothing that a bit of diffusion can't fix. And actually makes the light blend a bit better and look nicer, but then you loose the punch. But hey, they are cheap! you generally get what you pay for.

[crazyshaun]

the lights we use are http://cpc.farnell.com/pulse/led-56-eco-bl...lack/dp/DP30505

we have 8 of them around our stage 15M high and the offer a full spread of colour

[angellust17]

Bad thing is Sites in my country don't seem to mention the size of leds, but even thomann doesn't in all.

In fact I found 10mm in thomann with 45 euro which is still far less expensive than my country which you can't find for under 100 euro.

This ones I don't need for professional use, they are just for a 3-4 m stage in a music school and we'll use about 4-8 of them.

I guess thommans 3 year warranty is a bonus too :P

 

But the point is why so much difference in cost...

[dirk54]

Bad thing is Sites in my country don't seem to mention the size of leds, but even thomann doesn't in all.

In fact I found 10mm in thomann with 45 euro which is still far less expensive than my country which you can't find for under 100 euro.

This ones I don't need for professional use, they are just for a 3-4 m stage in a music school and we'll use about 4-8 of them.

I guess thommans 3 year warranty is a bonus too :P

 

But the point is why so much difference in cost...

 

 

I've bought the same lights from Terralec in the Uk. I think that they are the sole importer from thommans. They are not as bright as our 'old' hot lights but have performed really well for us especially as they are very child friendly (not hot, low voltage desk etc)

I'd be interested in learning about the higher powered units though.

ps are you a primary school? we are looking for pen friends for our year 4 kids

best wishes Derek

[niclights]

But the point is why so much difference in cost...

There's little difference between the units and in some cases none at all. I suggest you buy the cheapest you can find. I've had no particular problems with the basic 5mm Par56 types over years of use. The only reason I would consider spending more at this end of the market would be for ones where the LED's are combined RGB types. These look nicer when you can see the source.

 

And I think it is now important to mention that these things are not as child friendly as Derek believes. They are not low voltage. Both they and the control desks all work at normal mains voltage.

[angellust17]

ok, so going for thomann led cans,

 

should I get those ones http://www.thomann.de/gr/stairville_led_pa...alu_schwarz.htm

that don't specify the led size

or go for those ones http://www.thomann.de/gr/stairville_led_pa..._silver_rgb.htm

that are of 10mm size ?

[sleah]

ok, so going for thomann led cans,

 

should I get those ones http://www.thomann.de/gr/stairville_led_pa...alu_schwarz.htm

that don't specify the led size

or go for those ones http://www.thomann.de/gr/stairville_led_pa..._silver_rgb.htm

that are of 10mm size ?

 

Personally I'd go for the 10mm :huh:

 

I would be worth dropping Thomann an email and asking for more info, they're pretty good at communication, unlike many 'box shifters' :P

[niclights]

I'd buy the 5mm. Cheaper. I really doubt you'll notice the difference. I have around 40 of them from Thomann and they're fine.

[dirk54]

But the point is why so much difference in cost...

There's little difference between the units and in some cases none at all. I suggest you buy the cheapest you can find. I've had no particular problems with the basic 5mm Par56 types over years of use. The only reason I would consider spending more at this end of the market would be for ones where the LED's are combined RGB types. These look nicer when you can see the source.

 

And I think it is now important to mention that these things are not as child friendly as Derek believes. They are not low voltage. Both they and the control desks all work at normal mains voltage.

 

Sorry, you are correct, the lights run off 240 volts, it was the control desk which the kids use. Ours runs of a transformer which is 12 volts.

 

Sorry, Derek