ADJ Starburst vs KAM Stratosphere

[Nakatomi]

Both not quite on sale yet (the KAM unit goes on sale next month) but am I the only person to have spotted incredible similarities between the units?

RRP of the (identical I think) KAM unit is a tenner less than the ADJ fixture so... ?

Same casing by the look of things.. same features.. same unit under the covers? Same DMX addresses & display units too. I checked the manuals!

Ok so a tenner isn't much difference to argue about, but the 'Ghost' version of the KAM is only £159.99 in places.

ADJ seem to release new products every 5 minutes & I'm guessing they're mostly if not all rebadged OEM jobbies. How many other fixtures seem to be clones of other units?

I'm not beholden to ADJ for any reason - I've not been especially impressed by their build quality (Revos especially) - but then I've never used any KAM gear. What are they like?

[Imagine]

The Starbust's are already out.....and being sent back with faults from what I've seen on the interwobble over the past week.
I think I'll stick with my Spherions for now - they do what I need to do

I might even follow in the current trend and paint them white once they're out of guarantee next year (don't really fancy pulling out and reseating that many lenses though)

As for KAM - not a big fan personally. I had a set of their flat PAR cans last year where the control unit caught fire mid gig. I've also owned a pair of their Moonglows (just to sit behind the facade when I take that rig out) and they don't seem to last very long either.

Chauvet and ACME seem to be the ones that work/endure the most gigs for me.

[Nakatomi]

I've worked a lot with ACME & Chauvet gear in installations & never had any issues.

My own stuff all just happens to be ProLight 'Equinox' who are under the same umbrella as acme. Seems pretty well made as does my Chauvet RGB laser.

Sigh. I guess if I want an RGB mirrorball type effect I'm going to have to wait a bit longer then. Unless our Teutonic friends are up to something.

I know the difficulty in them doing a proper colour mixing beam effect. It's the led chips themselves - you need a diffuser lens in front of it because the colour chip dies inside sit next to each other in the led package, hence the annoying offset.

[mrrawuk]

I was literally just having a google on the KAM Stratosphere and thought i would search here.

Has anyone got them here and what are the opinions?

[paulg]

I can't bear to see people chucking their cash down the drain so I thought I would offer a few paragraphs and my first post for age.

I have the adj starburst which appear to be the same as the kam version. A retailer explained to me that the release of the adj version was delayed because the kam version (due for release at about the same time) was a better spec with more powerful LEDs and UV. The huge delay in adj getting theirs to market was becuase the unit was hastily upgraded to match kam. Those of you that looked at the web specs of each unit some months ago may have seen plenty of evidence to support this. They do look as if they come out of the same factory. The manuals are almost identical. The specs are too.

Anyway, opinion: not bright enough - only useful in very small rooms. In large rooms you might as well not bother. Smoke might help but who uses that these days? Poorly made, useless and intermittent menu features and there is more. They don't colour mix but instead produce a separate mix of led dots through each lens. The lenses are cheap plastic and are partly opaque. Two screws fell out of mine. The rocker power switches are very poor quality. The mains socket pulled out of the back because it is clipped into the chassis and not screwed. In summary, absolute, total and utter rubbish. The bags they came with are OK though. Anyone in the Yorkshire area is welcome to a demo.

I noticed the ADJ price has gone up by about 40 quid since first release so maybe some of the faults have been addressed but the spec hasn't changed. Those jellydome things are probably as much use.

[mrrawuk]

Well i guess that answers that for me.

Many thanks for the reply.

[Pe7e]

I purchased a pair of Starbursts when they first came out and was disappointed to say the least, the menus didn't work properly on either unit the white leds on one of the units didn't work at all, shockingly poor quality IMO. They were on their way back to the supplier within 24 hours of their arrival. In fairness several members have purchased them and appear to be pleased with them, maybe I just got unlucky with the ones I was sent, but I won't be buying any more.

[paulg]

Well i guess that answers that for me.

Many thanks for the reply.

You are welcome.... Now you can go shopping for something better!

[Corabar Steve]

They do look as if they come out of the same factory.

Other than the menu buttons being completely different (ADJ stick out, KAM are behind a fascia)

[ukpartydj]

I've got Kam pars - good lights and great price no issues in 6 months used for every gig. I have had other lights from Kam before and they've been okay, minus the odd led going out. Also Kam haze which is okay, not amazing though!

They definitely just copy and rebadge sometimes, adj release a new light and on alibaba it's there already...
Bit dissapointing I always thought adj was American made lights and closer inspection shows made in China or where ever!

Because of that I don't think any brand is better. Chauvet, Kam, ADJ... They've all caused me issues and they all have products and good ones.