Should I buy XSpots?

Hi,
As with any investment i think it would be wise if at all possible to see the fixture's , it would be hard to say if these fixtures have been maintained and cared for from a picture or from some text.
The person selling will probably tell you what you want to hear rather than what is fact.
I think if you look at the used lighting websites it will give you an indication of a price relative to other fixtures in the range like martin Mac2k profile's , Studio Spots etc.

Again go and see the fixture fired up and working on a console and make an informaed choice.

C

At 50' why not use Cyberlights? A lot less to go wrong.;)

Yea no doubt, you could probably even get turbos for a good price.
much brighter...
Besides, if you are talking about used xspots, you have to figure out what you are getting.
they came in several different versions.
standard,
HO,
Extreme,
4:1
2:1

For brightness, you would want extreme 2:1
anything less than that and you are probably going to be dissapointed.
Joshua Wood

The lights I'm looking at are Extremes. I'm waiting to hear back if they are 2:1 or 4:1. I have used Cybers before and love them. But I am being told that in this particular building I cannot have 208V power. That's the only reason I am not pursuing Cybers for this room. If you guys know a workaround that I could suggest to the owners of the room, let me know. Otherwsie I am stuck with standard 120V. Thanks for all the input so far. It is much appreciated.

cybers will run on single phase... 240v...

I just got word that the XSpots I'm looking at are Extremes with the 2:1 lens on them. And that's great that Cybers will run on single phase. I will pass that along. My final concern is that this truss will be very exposed. What do you guys think about the asthetics of putting 3 Cybers on a 20' run of truss? I have two trusses runninng paralle to each other about 16' apart. Each will have Source Four Pars, Source Four Ellipsoidals, and either Cybers or XSpots. And the kicker is that this is a very steep incline along the roofline, which my truss has to follow. Unfortunately the incline takes the truss face away from the stage rather than towards it. So I'm concerned about being able to hit everything I want with the Cyber's mirror vs. the XSpots moving head.

All in all, here's the question I'm coming back to. If I use the XSpots are they at all comparable to the Cybers in brightness? Will I hate life with the XSpots? Is it worth it to redesign the truss layout (if possible) just to accomodate Cybers?

Depends on what you are looking for,
Cybers are going to be brighter in the long run.
And the lamps tend to last longer as well.
But you have to decide if you can hit what you want with them.
You can turn the head back and forth around 20 degrees, that may help you make the shots you want to.

But with the cybers you are definetly giving up some things, it is up to you if you can live with that.

21 Rotating Gobo's vs. 4 rotating
Variable CTO and CTB
Faster zoom and focus.
I believe the 2:1's still have a larger zoom range than a cyber as well, but I would have to check the cutsheets to be sure.

Good Luck!
Joshua Wood

what we have done to run 208v fixtures off of 120 is pick up a couple 120 to 208v step up transformers. It works wonders.

[quote=EthanB]And the kicker is that this is a very steep incline along the roofline, which my truss has to follow. Unfortunately the incline takes the truss face away from the stage rather than towards it. So I'm concerned about being able to hit everything I want with the Cyber's mirror vs. the XSpots moving head.

For this reason alone I would choose Cybers...any moving head fixture will have pan/tilt issues over the long run if installed at a steep incline. Whereas a moving mirror fixture will not....just make sure you orient the mirror correctly and then you can tip the unit towards the stage a bit to help as well.

Hope this helps:)

I personally think x-spots are one of the most tempermental fixtures made. Seems like they love to throw errors. Also, you need to look at the yolk bracket and see if its the newer design. If not plan to spend some money getting the upgraded one. The older ones crack and the light ends up breaking the tilt edge sensor.

[quote=TimMiller]I personally think x-spots are one of the most tempermental fixtures made. Seems like they love to throw errors. Also, you need to look at the yolk bracket and see if its the newer design. If not plan to spend some money getting the upgraded one. The older ones crack and the light ends up breaking the tilt edge sensor.
Considering that there is so much more going on in an X-Spot than a Cyber, it comes as no surprise to me that there would be more errors - simple probability! With more things that can go wrong, it'll happen more often . . . . Now, having said that, the modularity of the X-Spot makes it really quick and easy to swap out problematic modules, and to work on them *NOT* in the air . . . .

And when did the yoke change happen? Were the XTremes ever built with the old design? I may need to check mine, although they were factory rebuilt two to three years ago, so I would think they are OK . . .

- Tim

I have some xtremes that are undergoing yolk replacement. Talk about a pain, though my gf has a way of pulling the whole thing apart really quickly. We can now replace yolks in about half an hour to an hour depending on how much got screwed up.

MY company last year purchased 28 xspots second hand last year, and we already had 4, the 28 we purchased we've only just finished fixing, though the ones we already had, are still in perfect condition!

So how much fixing they need will depend on the life they have been living, My company is majorly corperate based, though the ones we got last year lived the rock and roll touring life style.

So like its already been said, go and check out the fixtures in person first.

On the up side, when their working propperly, i love them! their awesome haha