Recommendations for LED pars?

[PerfArtsTech]

The situation as is:

A school with a moderate size black box drama studio that likes using LEDs (the Head likes that they're a little greener, and the need not to have dimmers is very helpful). We're currently using some showtec LED par 64 Q4-12s (These pretty much: http://www.thomann.de/gb/showtec_led_par_64_short_q418_black.htm) and they are doing a very good job for the most part.

However, they have these fans in them, which, when they're in the hall that they were bought for, isn't an issue. But in the studio, a much smaller space, the noise is much more intrusive, especially when we're trying to teach lessons. They're also picked up nicely by camera mics - we have to film a lot of productions to send off to exam boards.

So the question is: does anyone have any recommendations for LED pars that would give as good results but without the ridiculous fan noise? We have a good budget, but we want to spend wisely, and we are looking at other things we'd like to buy as well.

Thanks.

[mar]

At my previous job we had a set of Chauvet Colorado 2 IP rated pars, they had no fan and packed a lot of punch for the money. They are possibly a bit bright for a studio (we sometimes had them running at 4% intensity and there was still plently of light) so you may want to try the Colorado 1 version which isn't as bright. We had Stage Electrics come and do a demo of them both in our space which I would recommend pushing for from which ever supplier you choose.

[ninjadingle]

A company I freelance for uses these - Stairville PAR 56 LED - silent in operation and good colours - not so nice if the LED's are seen though! Cheap too.....

[timsabre]

+1 for the Chauvet colorado 2. (You don't need the IP rated version, save a bit of money there). They are RGB+white which is very useful for drama use, you can never get a good white out of an RGB only unit. They are quite narrow beam for a small space though.

 

I would not recommend the Stairville units for school use, they are cheap but have patchy reliability and the colour mixing is not the best.

[Just Some Bloke]

I would agree with Tim and mar: the Colorados are a well built unit that put out plenty of usable light. Personally I still prefer tungsten for faces but the colorados will do everything else and will last a lot longer than the Stairvilles.

[PerfArtsTech]

I see what you're all saying. I think I've used the stairville elsewhere and they seemed a little dim, also no white channel, which would of course be preferred. The colorados seem the opposite though, they seem like they might be over kill, but I'm trying get a local supplier to get me some to demo. Has anyone ever used the Chauvet slimPARs before? They seem like they might be a happy medium, again I'm trying to get them in for demo.

Thanks

[timsabre]

I see what you're all saying. I think I've used the stairville elsewhere and they seemed a little dim, also no white channel, which would of course be preferred. The colorados seem the opposite though, they seem like they might be over kill, but I'm trying get a local supplier to get me some to demo. Has anyone ever used the Chauvet slimPARs before? They seem like they might be a happy medium, again I'm trying to get them in for demo.

 

Anything like that with a mass of small LEDs is more unreliable and has issues with colour mixing at the edges of the beam. (And there's no white). They are designed for weekend DJ's.

You are using a fixture of reasonable quality now with high power colour mix LED's, don't take a backwards step to DJ product. The colorado is just a better engineered version of what you have, using a large aluminium cast body as a heatsink to avoid the need for a fan.

 

 

edit: just noticed that they do a lot of different units called slimPAR - the ones with high powered LEDs look OK but are RGB or RGBA, not RGBW.

[rossmck]

The Chauvet Slim Par Pro Tri is a great fixture for the price ... used to be available from Showtec as well under the name Compact Par 18 Tri - all but two of mine are the Showtec version but they were identical fixtures (you'll often find this - the Chauvet COLORado and Showtec Spectral range are also from the same OEM)

 

They dim smoothly, and the colour mixing is pretty good for an RGB fixture. (still wouldn't want them as front light, but for colour washes / backlight on a stage they're pretty good)

 

No fans either

 

[E2A - In full disclosure I am associated with a company that sells both the above products, the above opinion is my own]

[PerfArtsTech]

Rossmck: I've been talking to a local supplier about getting some units in to try and he's been talking about Showtec Spectral M400s, so it looks like he's on your wavelength here!

 

Thanks to everyone, you've all been a real help!

[rossmck]

Watch with the M400, it's a very narrow beam, at 19º it's closer to a CP61 than the likes of a CP62 that most people associate with a 'standard' par, of course it's not elliptical.

 

The D4000 is a fair bit wider and brighter, but more expensive too.

 

A few months ago I would have suggested the Compact Par 18 Tri but not the new Mk II version (see my off-topic rant on the post about KAM Pars) - the Chauvet SlimPAR Pro Tri is the same unit (same as the Mk I) and the Chauvet COLORdash Par Quad 18 is the next evolution of that (with RGBA instead of just RGB)

 

[ in full disclosure I am associated with a company that sells the aforementioned products, the comments above are my personal opinion from using them - not necessarily the views of the company ]

[Ken Coker]

Chauvet have a good range and I have an increasing respect for LEDJ stuff - been running a few dozen AluPars for a while now.

 

Avoid anything that needs hundreds of DMX channels and/or multiple modes.........

 

KC

[ianknight]

Chauvet have a good range and I have an increasing respect for LEDJ stuff - been running a few dozen AluPars for a while now.

 

Avoid anything that needs hundreds of DMX channels and/or multiple modes.........

 

KC

 

I have to agree Ken - the first LED PAR's we sold from LEDj were very narrow beams and low intensity (in comparison to things like Patt 123's) but the AluPARs have recently begun to impress me as well.

 

I demo'd an AluPar TRI 100 to a customer last week and I was mightily impressed - the beam is about equivalent to a Patt 223/Cantata and about as bright as a 500W fresnel I reckon. The price is not bad at all - ok so it doesn't have any white elements but if you're looking for the same coverage but in tuneable white - they do a White/Warm White version with the same beam.

 

Whilst I like (and have sold) some of the Chauvet Tri PARs, just be mindful of beam angles over the comparatively short distances you'll cast light over in an average school studio.