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rickryan.com

DJ Extraordinaire
ODJT Supporter
Dec 9, 2009
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Hendersonville, TN
www.rickryan.com

I just received a pair of these U'King (el-cheapo), 60-watt movers. They're setup on my kitchen counter and roaming around in auto mode. I burned out 2 of my Chauvet 255 movers, after I put them on a dimmed circuit. I've heard these are a PITA on DMX but I'm planning to just leave them sound active. I have to tell you, at first glance, these are about as bright as the Chauvets and they come with a 3-prism glass that's pretty cool. No idea if these will hold up, but at $109 I can buy a pair of these for the same price it would cost me to send back the Chauvets for an estimate on service. I'll hang them tonight and be using them at Saturday's wedding. I currently have 2 255s, 2 30-watt scanners and 2 Martin Acrobats. I put the dance lights on a separate circuit and just flip them on during dance. The rest of the room's uplighting is controlled my myDMXGo, which is running MUCH better now that I got wireless DMX out of the picture.
 
I''ve been looking at the Chauvet's but I like this price much better.... anxious to hear your feed back after trying them out.
 
Just please cut the power to these during slow dances... thats all i ask Rick...

My major gripe with the whole sound active thing is the lack of control when you need to set a particular mood that isnt "roller rink all skate"...

Way too many halfwits out there with cheap laser lights dancing across a brides face during their first dance... no...no....no

cc
 
Just please cut the power to these during slow dances... thats all i ask Rick...

My major gripe with the whole sound active thing is the lack of control when you need to set a particular mood that isnt "roller rink all skate"...

Way too many halfwits out there with cheap laser lights dancing across a brides face during their first dance... no...no....no

cc

Agree.
 
I''ve been looking at the Chauvet's but I like this price much better.... anxious to hear your feed back after trying them out.
Do remember you normally get what you pay for. Before I get beat up on here I've made mistakes buying some things that I shouldn't have. For certain things I've learned to spend the extra money so you can truly be satisfied and be done.
 
Do remember you normally get what you pay for. Before I get beat up on here I've made mistakes buying some things that I shouldn't have. For certain things I've learned to spend the extra money so you can truly be satisfied and be done.

Oh, I definitely believe in that statement.... This is why I I spent 5k on new speakers when I could've got into the business for less than 1k. I like quality. However, that doesn't mean there aren't times that a brand name just cost more for the same product. If it's something I'm depending on, I won't cheap out. I think if one does their homework, and understands the risk involved and is either okay with that risk, or has a backup plan in place, it can be worth it.
 
i bought 4 cheap chinese movers - 1 was DOA, they replaced it. another has since died - I don't use them alot, mostly for school dances.

They're heavy. DMX seems to work ok, and brightness is fine, but they do 'get confused' at times - ALL my dmx units do that regardless of how I control them or who made them, so can't fault them for that I suppose.
 
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Junk in , junk out Spent the money on quality & depreciate over five years on your income tax
Agreed. In 2012 I spent 12000 on trussing and 6 elation platinum spot 5r’s. Aside from the expected bulb change… they’ve never needed to be replaced. The return on investment has been unreal too, with on average, just under $20k being made annually just from moving heads ONLY.
 
Here's a clip from Saturday evening. The sweep range on the built-in programs is smaller on the U'Kings vs the Chauvet, but I like the look just fine. No idea how long these will last but based on what I've seen I'd probably rather buy 6 of these than 1 of the Chauvets (and for about the same money). The U'Kings are on the left-hand side and the Chauvets are on the right. I also have 2 30-watt scanners on the left and a pair of Acrobats on the left. I'm planning to move these U'Kings to be directly over the dance floor. Your comments welcome.

BTW, this was at the end of the night (empty dance floor).

moving heads
 
Here's a clip from Saturday evening. The sweep range on the built-in programs is smaller on the U'Kings vs the Chauvet, but I like the look just fine. No idea how long these will last but based on what I've seen I'd probably rather buy 6 of these than 1 of the Chauvets (and for about the same money). The U'Kings are on the left-hand side and the Chauvets are on the right. I also have 2 30-watt scanners on the left and a pair of Acrobats on the left. I'm planning to move these U'Kings to be directly over the dance floor. Your comments welcome.

BTW, this was at the end of the night (empty dance floor).

moving heads

looks pretty good! ... cant beat the slow controlled movements of the Chauvet tho...

cc
 
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It's kind of hard to see a real comparison, of the two, but they looked like they were doing their thing just fine. At half the cost of Chauvet's cheapest spot, one could afford to buy a spare one of these. Thanks for sharing. May be a good budget alternative for some to have in the arsenal.
 
It's kind of hard to see a real comparison, of the two, but they looked like they were doing their thing just fine. At half the cost of Chauvet's cheapest spot, one could afford to buy a spare one of these. Thanks for sharing. May be a good budget alternative for some to have in the arsenal.

That Chauvet light runs $729 each. The U'King $109. I'm planning to buy at least 2 more U'King and possible 4 more. They're both 60-watt lights and in my view the optics and brightness on the Chauvets are only marginally better. If I were still doing mobile with a couple of totems I'd go for some big 200+ watt units but with a perm install, more lights seems to be a better choice.
 
That Chauvet light runs $729 each. The U'King $109. I'm planning to buy at least 2 more U'King and possible 4 more. They're both 60-watt lights and in my view the optics and brightness on the Chauvets are only marginally better. If I were still doing mobile with a couple of totems I'd go for some big 200+ watt units but with a perm install, more lights seems to be a better choice.
Let us know how long the U KINGS last.
 
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I just placed an order for 2 more of these U'King movers. Planning to take them with me to Nashville this weekend to DJ a wedding there. I'll be using these movers in place of the Martin Acrobats that I've been using on mobile gigs. After this weekend's mobile gig I'll be mounting them into my venue.
 
I don't like spending money I don't have to. I love getting a deal. But my life got much easier when I stopped buying cheap stuff.
Yes it's possible to get similar performance long term. But it's highly unlikely. At 1/6th the price, maybe you can put up with lower performance or lower lifespan.

But in my experience, equipment never seems to break at a convenient time.

I'll take my chances with used great gear than rolling the dice with cheap new gear. The first thing cheap gear manufacturerers cut out is quality control. When no one is checking the quality of the parts or workmanship, the results are typically between luckily ok and really bad.

I do understand the motivation though.
 
I don't like spending money I don't have to. I love getting a deal. But my life got much easier when I stopped buying cheap stuff.
Yes it's possible to get similar performance long term. But it's highly unlikely. At 1/6th the price, maybe you can put up with lower performance or lower lifespan.

But in my experience, equipment never seems to break at a convenient time.

I'll take my chances with used great gear than rolling the dice with cheap new gear. The first thing cheap gear manufacturerers cut out is quality control. When no one is checking the quality of the parts or workmanship, the results are typically between luckily ok and really bad.

I do understand the motivation though.
I generally agree with you however in ricks case, a permanent installation, I think he will have better results as he is not transporting them all over
 
I generally agree with you however in ricks case, a permanent installation, I think he will have better results as he is not transporting them all over
Maybe?? We don't like frugal clients but we buy cheap junk to serve them?