KAM Par36 vs Acme Colourbursts

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Just a bit of a cautionary tale for all you guys out there that are using Colourbursts.

I had 15 on order for delivery at the beginning of December. After a phone call to the store (and their subsequent call to Prolight) they realised that they were unable to honor the sale until January. They realised that that was too late and offered me 15 KAM Par36's which "were exactly the same unit, from the same chinese factory, only with a IEC socket instead of trailing plug". On the back of that, i accepted them as a substitute for the Colourbursts.

They came today, and to all looks they are the same unit...BUT... the light output on the KAM ones are terrible. In a side-by-side comparison agains a 3m high whitewall, the Colourburst got light all the way to the top and over the ceiling, the KAM one ran out at about the 2m mark.

So, if your using Colourbursts and find them hard to comeby DO NOT consider the KAM versions.

PS, company happy to take them back off me and issue a full refund, and ive just cleaned a second (all be it, more expensive) company out of all their stock until the middle of january :D

[Shakermaker Promotions]

That's cool. For a moment there I thought you was going to say that the KAM ones were far better than the Colourbursts.

[deltic]

how much uplighting do you want? must be going well !!! :) :) :)

[Dynamic Entertainment]

how much uplighting do you want? must be going well !!! :) :) :)

lol. It is, got 25 units out on NYE alone for one job :D

[DJ INDIE]

i have used LEDJ, American DJ and KAM.


LEDJ are the best and brightest by a mile.

[DJ Jules]

Just to add my experience to this thread (in case anyone else is tempted to chance buying the Kam Par36's):

1. Prolight Colourbursts have a different DMX set up to the Kam Par36's (Acme have strobe/brightness on Chan1, Red/Grn/Blue on 2/3/4, Kam have Red/Grn/Blue on 1/2/3 and strobe/brightness on Chan 4 - and strobe/brightness breakpoints are at different numbers)

2. Where the Colourbursts have 10w power consumption, the Kam's have 5w - so you can make your own deductions about the brightness of the units. In a dark room at close range the difference doesn't seem to be visible, but when you stand back in a larger room it's obvious.

3. Where the Colourbursts deliver a nice consistent colour wash, the Kam's tend to deliver colour in rings - putting white up results in red/green/blue rings towards the edges of a white circle instead of a flat colour.

4. The Kam lights have an IEC socket, whereas the Colourbursts have a built in cable. If you're putting them on stands then it's no biggy, but if you're bolting the bracket to a flat surface (i.e. a home made stand) then the IEC cable is just a little bit too long and restricts movement of the light.

5. There is visible flicker from the Kam lights when you're mixing hues of colours.

I'm returning a load of the Kam units and joining the queue for the Colourbursts - it's a bit of shame really because the DIP switches on the Kam allow for finer control of the colour and the built in programs are better.

Julian

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Cheers for the elaboration Jules. :beer1:

[DeckstarDeluxe]

personally Ive found kam lighting not nearly as good as the prolight "counterparts" be it led, 250w or as in this case uplighters.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I really rate the Colourbursts and they are ideal for what I use them for. The price is good on them aswell. With the Lil' Mix controller they are even better.
I have 12 units at the moment. I did drop one a while back so I gave that to my missus who hid it out of view in her shop window to light up her display of Bridal Wear and it looked awesome, even with just the one unit. She now uses it all the time.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Having uplit my front room during December, I am seriously considering buying a couple of the Colourbursts.

Do they work master/slave?

[DJ Jules]

Having uplit my front room during December, I am seriously considering buying a couple of the Colourbursts.

Do they work master/slave?

Yup, DIPs 1 and 10 down on the slaves and they'll all follow the first one.

Julian