I want a power bar, I thought I'd see something at B.P.M but to be honest it's added to my confusion as to what to get, what might be too bright, not bright enough etc. Any thoughts, taking cost into account too?
Sarah x
Still baffled
I want a power bar, I thought I'd see something at B.P.M but to be honest it's added to my confusion as to what to get, what might be too bright, not bright enough etc. Any thoughts, taking cost into account too?
Sarah x
Yeah, looks like a good call. Nearly bought the ADJ jelly par profile today. I take it the Thoman is much brighter and is only £60 more too.
I'm pretty sure that the Thomann version is less expensive than its KAM counterpartOriginally Posted by Sarah
I've heard a lot of bad reports about the Kam and anyway it's about £140 dearer than the Thoman.
I've narrowed it down to the Thoman and the ADJ jelly par profile, I'm wanting to know the difference in brightness between these two please.
Sarah x
Worth remembering is the 3 yr warranty with Thomann.
You will be the recipient of a discourse on the relative merits of Jelly bars, Powerbars and the like, if you answer your mobile.
PS. I saw the jelly bar in action at BPM. In my exceedingly humble opinion, it's a pile of poo. I also was a third Powerbar, and I'll have to investigate it further. From its appearance, I have an inkling of its ancestry, but I can't yet be sure. third option
Plug any of them in to an external DMX controller and you'll be able to control the brightness to whatever level you desire
Right folks, let's see if I can shed a little lighton this conundrum.
Option 1
Par bar/Party bar/par cans. Multiple LEDs, divided up into Red, Green, and Blue. Biggest downside is that say you want a red colour, only a third of your lights are lit, cos the green and the blue aren't used. Also, since there may be hundreds of them in each fixture, the likelihood of a few of them dying is high. With so many small LEDs inside each can, repairs are fiddly at best. Makers improved that by using larger brighter LEDs, needing fewer to achieve the same output. Having outlined their failings, they're still widespread, they're relatively cheap, and relatively reliable.
Option 2
Powerbar-KAM, Stairville, and now IMG Stageline. Fitted with TRI LEDs, which means that each LED can create Red Green and Blue itself. Thus, pure red is as bright as a colour using all three colours. Units tend to have only seven LEDs in, which means that replacing a faulty one is easier. They're really really bright, KAM claiming that their one is over three times brighter than their Par bar. The colours are much sharper and easier to create, and one bar is more than capable of lighting a village hall on its own. I know, cos I've done it. The foot pedals offer some control over them, the KAM one in particular give a lot of control, but not dimming.
(Excessive ) Brightness. The solution to this is a DMX controller. Wth one of these, you can dim them from full to zero. You can also select patterns, or static colours etc. With the Stairville it's a doddle, the KAM isn't anywhere near as easy, and I don't know about the IMG. You don't need a complicated unit to get good results from them. Many of us on here are happy to use only a powerbar for lighting an event. It's particularly useful in venues with little lighting of their own.
The Stairville is usually over a hundred pounds cheaper than the KAM, and offers fairly much equivalent performance.
So, do you want a powerbar, or a par bar? Well just to make it harder, there is a third way
Two or more of these at around £60 each. No tripod, no foot controller, and more cabling. They can however be used on their own, whereas the bars are designed to be used as a whole unit only. There's a way of controlling them with a remote controller ( not supplied ) which I don't know much about, but I know a man who does, and I'll see if we can get him to tell us in here.
I do hope this has helped in some way, and if there's anything that's unclear, then ask away, and I or others will doubtless reply. Manuals below.
KAM manual.
Last edited by Excalibur; 09-10-2012 at 09:09 PM.
Third option link not working here Peter.Right folks, let's see if I can shed a little light
Option 1
Par bar/Party bar/par cans. Multiple LEDs, divided up into Red, Green, and Blue. Biggest downside is that say you want a red colour, only a third of your lights are lit, cos the green and the blue aren't used. Also, since there may be hundreds of them in each fixture, the likelihood of a few of them dying is high. With so many small LEDs inside each can, repairs are fiddly at best. Makers improved that by using larger brighter LEDs, needing fewer to achieve the same output. Having outlined their failings, they're still widespread, they're relatively cheap, and relatively reliable.
Option 2
Powerbar-KAM, Stairville, and now IMG Stageline. Fitted with TRI LEDs, which means that each LED can create Red Green and Blue itself. Thus, pure red is as bright as a colour using all three colours. Units tend to have only seven LEDs in, which means that replacing a faulty one is easier. They're really really bright, KAM claiming that their one is over three times brighter than their Par bar. The colours are much sharper and easier to create, and one bar is more than capable of lighting a village hall on its own. I know, cos I've done it. The foot pedals offer some control over them, the KAM one in particular give a lot of control, but not dimming.
(Excessive ) Brightness. The solution to this is a DMX controller. Wth one of these, you can dim them from full to zero. You can also select patterns, or static colours etc. With the Stairville it's a doddle, the KAM isn't anywhere near as easy, and I don't know about the IMG. You don't need a complicated unit to get good results from them. Many of us on here are happy to use only a powerbar for lighting an event. It's particularly useful in venues with little lighting of their own.
The Stairville is usually over a hundred pounds cheaper than the KAM, and offers fairly much equivalent performance.
So, do you want a powerbar, or a par bar? Well just to make it harder, there is a third way
Two or more of these, at around £60 each. No tripod, no foot controller, and more cabling. They can however be used on their own, whereas the bars are designed to be used as a whole unit only. There's a way of controlling them with a remote controller ( not supplied ) which I don't know much about, but I know a man who does, and I'll see if we can get him to tell us in here.
I do hope this has helped in some way, and if there's anything that's unclear, then ask away, and I or others will doubtless reply. Manuals below.
KAM manual.
Or is that deliberate to whip up the crowd
Great post by the way!
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