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[Tim Weaver]

By small stage I'm talking your basic 250 cap room with maybe a 25x15 foot stage. Mine in particular is a church youth stage, but think typical rock bar type situation.

I've been using Chauvet Intimidator scan 360's (6 of them) for a while and they are plenty bright for this space (100w led) and they have spinning gobos and a prism. That's why I picked them in the firstplace, but now I'd like more freedom of movement. Looking for a moving head spot type fixture that is LED (limited on power) and has at least spinning gobos. Prism would be nice, and spinning prism or multi prisms would be awesome.

Anybody worked with a small moving head that fits these criteria that you like? I need to get 3-4 years out of them before they start dying too.

[Jeff Lelko]

Hey Tim, the Chauvet Intimidator Hybrid SR140 is (was) my favorite sub-$1k moving head and still is despite their price increase.  They punch above their weight but are a discharge source.  The Rogue R1X will also fit the bill if you don’t mind the higher price over an Intimidator moving head.  They’ll definitely last though!

Aside from the Rogue at the semi-pro level and an Intimidator option at the budget level I’ve really enjoyed the Elation Dartz 360.  It’s definitely a specialty fixture but is very power efficient and can pull off some neat effects - especially when used in larger multiples.  Hope this helps!

[Tommy Nikiforov]

on the really cheap end , showtec kanjo 60 spot is alright. for a bit more money the varytec hero spot 90 , if you want to spend a bit more still the varytec hero spot 230 is unbeatable price to performance.

[Tim Weaver]

on the really cheap end , showtec kanjo 60 spot is alright. for a bit more money the varytec hero spot 90 , if you want to spend a bit more still the varytec hero spot 230 is unbeatable price to performance.

Those Varytec 90's actually look great. Two gobo wheels, one spins. Motorized focus, motorized gobo. I'm just wary of buying cheap import fixtures.

[Tommy Nikiforov]

Those Varytec 90's actually look great. Two gobo wheels, one spins. Motorized focus, motorized gobo. I'm just wary of buying cheap import fixtures.

no experience with the 90 , the 230 on the other hand is a stellar fixture. i have a bunch of them and they hold up against fixtures twice the price.

[Tim Weaver]

One of the things I'm stuck on is that the 100w led in the Intimidator 360 is the perfect amount of brightness to really punch through the rest of the setup in this space. I can get nice blue beams and everything. I'd be wary of going too far under 100 watts. but I don't really need more than that either.

Unfortunately the I-scan 360 is the only reasonably priced fixture that seems to fall into this category. I just wished they made an exact copy of it in a moving head, but they don't. The closest thing has a 75w led in it.

I may give those Varytec 90's a try. I'm not really reading anything bad about them online from actual users. If I get a couple-three good years out of them it will be worth it for me. We'll see what happens.....

[Jeff Lelko]

Just to ask the obvious, why not simply replace your Intimidator Scan 360s with Spot 360s?

[Tim Weaver]

Just to ask the obvious, why not simply replace your Intimidator Scan 360s with Spot 360s?

They aren't exactly a one-to-one comparison. The Spot 360's are 100w led, but have more features and cost 2.5 times as much as the Scanners.

Nothing wrong with them and they look like the obvious choice, but they are in a different price bracket.

[Jeff Lelko]

Nothing wrong with them and they look like the obvious choice, but they are in a different price bracket.

I don’t disagree.  I take it you have access to dealer pricing or a dealer who can sell to you at near dealer pricing?  I only ask because knowing what you can get a Spot 360 for from a good dealer I don’t think you’ll do much better for something worth owning.

If you’re willing to compromise on the 100w LED you can find a few more decent options at a lower price point but you’ll compromise to disposable DJ grade in short order.  You could always try finding some original R1 Spots on the used market too.  Aside from that it’d be rolling the dice on direct import fixtures and hoping you get units from a good batch.  Parts, warranty, and service will leave much to be desired though so your 3 year requirement might be hit or miss.  Good luck!

[Paul G. OBrien]

I'm just wary of buying cheap import fixtures.

All the usual advice that is given with respect to import equipment applies here, if you do buy them get an extra fixture(or 2) to use as a spare and/or parts. It's not that you should expect early failures it's that by the time you have an issue that model will have long been discontinued so getting parts will be anywhere from difficult to impossible. I have some direct from China heads that are going on 10yrs old with no issue, it's even still possible to get "the same" fixture but they are not exactly the same, in some cases the supplied gobos are different but in many cases the channel count and assignments are slightly different.... enough to turn a repair job into a pain in the ass because you now have to make programming changes too.

One of the things I'm stuck on is that the 100w led in the Intimidator 360 is the perfect amount of brightness to really punch through the rest of the setup in this space. I can get nice blue beams and everything. I'd be wary of going too far under 100 watts.

One of the things that happens with evolving LED technology is that newer LED sources produce a brighter/whiter light than older versions, so it is possible a current 90w LED source could be as bright as an older 100w. I have a couple versions of a 60w moving head where this is the case.

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