Proprietor Andy Collins says he has been using various PR Lighting products virtually since setting up his sales and rental company back in 2003 - and He also has a quantity of PR's Solo 250 conventional moving heads in his hire fleet.
But it was the new XLED 590s, containing 90 high power 5W RGB LEDs, that really "provided the wow factor", after UK distributors MilTec (UK) sent Eclipse a pair to trial at a massive fireworks display.
When the pair of XLED 590s made their debut at the massive fireworks event in Ipswich's Christchurch Park, it wasn't only the pyrotechnics that amazed the 50,000 people.
Says Collins, "We had them on either side of a 40ft x 30ft stage for a Michael Jackson tribute act. The colour wash we got was fantastic. We generally use par cans but matched the white light of the pars with these incredible colour washes - and we also used them as stage blinders, which produced an excellent effect. For the final number, Thriller, we had them on their own strobing - and they lit the entire stage up."
The product loan immediately turned into a sale - and by New Year's Eve Andy Collins was glad he had made the commitment. "We were contracted to put a sound and lighting system into a local hotel for 12 dates with various tribute bands, in conjunction with local radio station Town 102. Unfortunately there wasn't much power on site - just a single 32A three-phase supply, so we could only put in a few par cans for the white light effects."
This is where the different colour temperature presets of the XLED 590s came to his aid. "The LEDs produce an extremely bright white light, but using the colour temperature presets we could match the whites exactly to those of the par cans." Controlled from an Avolites Azure desk he said the response time was highly impressive.
(Jim Evans)
