Martin SCX500/600
Printed From: Speakerplans.com
Category: Other Chat
Forum Name: Lighting Talk
Forum Description: All your lampy, laser and 'other' special FX needs....
URL: https://forum.speakerplans.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=31048
Printed Date: 27 March 2026 at 12:38am
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Topic: Martin SCX500/600
Posted By: Ryan94
Subject: Martin SCX500/600
Date Posted: 26 September 2009 at 7:37pm
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hi guys,
What are your opinions on these lights?
Are they worth the money?
And how much better is the 600 over the 500?
And what other lights in there price range do you recomend?
Also whats the going rate for these two lights second hand?
cheers
ryan
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Replies:
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 27 September 2009 at 9:00am
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(imho) a waste of time because of the halogen lamps. The 700 is a 150 discharge unit but even then I think they're a bit dim for any serious use.
No idea on prices I'm afraid.
How much money you got to spend and what are you trying to achieve? ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 27 September 2009 at 9:52am
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hi norty,
The lights will be used for part of a mobile dj rig doing rave themed night and that sort of thing.
I dont really want to spend more than £300 a light.
Also i cant make my mind up weather to go for moving heads or scanners. i like how smooth and controlded the moving heads are but to get a reasonably desent one you could gewt two scanners that do the same thing. but scanners just seem to be so quick and edjey (spelling).
any help would be great thanks
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Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 27 September 2009 at 12:14pm
| Also i have been looking at the isolution irock scanners. what are your opinions on these. they do a 150watt discharge version, but how would this compare in brightness to say a 250watt halogen? |
Posted By: csg
Date Posted: 27 September 2009 at 4:18pm
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Generally the rule of thumb is discharge sources are 3-4 times brighter than halogen per watt - ie 150w discharge will = 450 - 600w of halogen. this of course assumes high quality clean optics, with the lamp correctly alighned.
scans can move as smoothly as moving heads, its all in the programming of the control. For mobile disco use, i would stick with moving mirrors unless you have loads of money
For £300 a head, you could find some serious kit like clay paky miniscan hpe's which would knock the sh*t out of everything this side of a martin 918
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Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 27 September 2009 at 8:13pm
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hi csg, thanks for the help.
i had been looking at discharge lamps for a while now but could only seem to find 150watt dischage lights in my price range so i was woried that they wernt going to be bright enough. but now i now they compare to 3-4 times brighter than a halogen im much more happy to pay for a discharge.
i supose scanners would be more suted to mobile use but i just love the look of moving heads! ow well i will just have to wait till im a bit older and have a bit more money and maybe get some better moving heads then.
wheres the best place to look for clay paky lights ect.?
cheers
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Posted By: csg
Date Posted: 27 September 2009 at 11:39pm
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take a look on ebay for the miniscans - they come up quite regularly and seem to sell for approx £600 a pair
note that they come in several versions - miniscan hpe's are the ones you want - they are 300w discharge, and cost a couple of grand each new...
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Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 28 September 2009 at 4:57pm
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our club have many martin scx units of varying sizes. dont bother, poorly made, poor optics, poor resolution (smoothness) of mirror movements and as said, mostly halogen which is pants.
just for your info on discharge lamps, halogen has fragile filiments which are inefficient, break easily in transit, and burn out quickly. Discharge lamps instead have 2 'stumps' which have seriously high voltages through, causing electrical arc'ing, and once heated up, a bright white light source rather than the yellowy halogen glow. think household floodlight compared to footy stadium floodlights. same kinda thing, obviously on completely different ends of the scale however. ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 28 September 2009 at 5:19pm
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I would say that in my experience, 150w of discharge source comes nowhere near 3 to 4 times the brightness of halogen. When comparing 250w of halogen to 150w of discharge I'd say at a push it might be a bit brighter, but a lot of that is down to the colour temp. That said, not all 250 halogens are created equal either. ELC3 and ELC5 are longer life and so dimmer. Some of my M33 lamped units are very bright even for halogens. ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: csg
Date Posted: 28 September 2009 at 6:49pm
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Perhaps - but remember that at the 150w end of the scale, budgets are usually tight and optics lossy also, the elc is a complete optical unit complete with a very carefully alighed reflector, which will not be the case with an hti-150. Ill look up the lumen / watt figures when i have a moment, but there is no doubt that discharge lamps are far more efficient than halogen
ok, quartz halogen = 24 lumen / watt
metal halide discharge = 100 lumen / watt
so, slightly over 1:4 ratio!
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Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 28 September 2009 at 7:03pm
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ok well it seems that the feedback for the martin scanners asnt good so i definatly wont be going for them. and it seems that going for a discharge lamp is a must!
Are there any other options apart from Clay Paky miniscan?
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Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 29 September 2009 at 12:00am
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Robe Clubscan 250CT are getting cheaper all the time. Around £200-£250 each with 250w MSD250/2 lamp. The older DJ scan 250XT are cheaper but rarer as now out of production. 150XT is still being made as far as I'm aware but 'only' 150w. imho, if you're going to get some scans, get 250w or higher. You can always dim them if too bright.
Martin 518 are a reasonable light but very slow by todays standards. ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 29 September 2009 at 9:37pm
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thanks for the help guys, i think im going to go for the clay paky miniscans they seem to be an amazing light for the price!
but in the future i still want to get some moving heads. what would you recomend? i want to spend between £1000-£1500.
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Posted By: csg
Date Posted: 29 September 2009 at 10:46pm
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you wont go far wrong with the clay paky's - great features, superb build quality and pulsar in cambridge offer full support for them
is your £1000 - 1500 budget per moving head?
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Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 30 September 2009 at 9:22am
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yep but would rather spend closer to £1000 per head. |
Posted By: jacethebase
Date Posted: 30 September 2009 at 11:45am
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Have you ever seen a light called a TAS mini ultra scan? Made by a company called Coemar. Might be worth a look they pop up on ebay occasionaly same sort of build quality as the older clay paky units. sometimes go for an absoulote steal! ------------- www.wedding-production.co.uk www.stage2sound.com |
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 30 September 2009 at 12:39pm
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Yep, they're another legendary older school scan. ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: csg
Date Posted: 30 September 2009 at 4:11pm
| not very bright though, very narrow beam and no support at all in terms of spares and service - cheap yes, but most are now very old and worn out |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 01 October 2009 at 2:26pm
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What do you guys think of this? it seems like a very very good deal! or am i missing something?
http://www.stage-electrics.co.uk/productHire.aspx?code=ASHPE - http://www.stage-electrics.co.uk/productHire.aspx?code=ASHPE
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Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 01 October 2009 at 2:38pm
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yes u are, thats HIRE fee, not purchase. To buy a unit like that would be the best part pf £2/3000 minimum!! ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 01 October 2009 at 2:57pm
i thought i was missing something! 
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Posted By: Jasonstry
Date Posted: 05 October 2009 at 6:15pm
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Might have about 8-12 Martin 518s available soon with cases (of differing standards). Long in the tooth now but still good units and easy to maintain.
Andy
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Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 05 October 2009 at 9:03pm
| hi andy, i wount be looking to get any till christmas time. but if you still have the then drop me a pm. what sort of price where you thinking each? |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 05 October 2009 at 9:05pm
| also was jsut wondering what everyone thought of matin mini macs? i now for the budget im on i would be better go for scanners but i just love moving heads and just cant stop thinking "but what if i was to have bought that moving head" after i have bought scanners! |
Posted By: csg
Date Posted: 06 October 2009 at 12:30pm
| unreliable in my opinion - i get a lot in from clubs for repair - not a bad little head though. The robe 160xt is a similar sized unit but much brighter and in my experience more reliable. |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 06 October 2009 at 5:33pm
| ow ok. i will have a look at the robe. whats sort of price is a robe 160xt second hand? |
Posted By: Happy Jack
Date Posted: 14 October 2009 at 6:54am
Hi Andy, I'd like to get in on that one! No doubt you have your sales channels, and will probably see them up in the classifieds section anyway, but send me a PM when these land on your doorstep. Will happily take the 4 that need the most work off your hands! Cheers |
Jasonstry wrote:Posted By: Jasonstry
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 7:05pm
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Hi,
Well a couple or 3 people interested in these. They are already on my doorstep but just need to check them out and sort out photos and stuff. Off the top of my head, I have 4 cased in stucco boxes fully working, 2 in some very badly made (not by me) but functional carpet covered, ahem, "cases" fully working. 2 in Martin Fibreboad boxes that I got recently, one missing a lamp so untested, and the other with a reversed pan/tilt (poss has the wrong jumper setting). Then there another 4 that are in various states of disrepair.
It will take me a while to go through them and will post them up on here when I have.
Also a pile of Robocolour Pro 400s and some Clay Paky pin scans to come as well.
Cheers.
Andy
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Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 19 October 2009 at 6:02pm
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just a quick question. im shore i remember seeing some mini mac profiles for sale on here a while back but cant seem to find the post. or is it just me imagining things! i was just wondering what sort of price these go for second hand.
cheers
ryan
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Posted By: imageoven
Date Posted: 19 October 2009 at 7:20pm
| ginger biscuits was selling lots recently, search for his posts in the for sale. |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 19 October 2009 at 7:46pm
| arrr so i was rite. ive done a few searches and still cant find the post! |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 20 October 2009 at 1:16pm
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whats your opinons on this light.
http://www.djanddiscostuff.com/prodpage.asp?prodid=2780 - http://www.djanddiscostuff.com/prodpage.asp?prodid=2780
Which is better the isolution HID-150 or the martin mini mac?
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Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 20 October 2009 at 2:20pm
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minimac - isolution things are terrible!! ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 20 October 2009 at 10:28pm
| ow ok its just ive heard that the minimacs break down alot so was just wondering what else was about. |
Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 21 October 2009 at 12:47am
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You just missed 4 Robe Clubscan 250CT's in flightcases for £800 on ebay. I was having a punt but they were just a bit rich for me. Bloody bargain though.
You just need to keep an eye out for stuff ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 24 November 2009 at 8:56pm
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hi guys, im still on the look out for scanners,
and i thought insted of starting a new thread i would just ask a quick question.
What do you think is better the martin 812 or the abstract vr8?
cheers
ryan
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Posted By: DJ Alfie
Date Posted: 27 November 2009 at 9:35am
i think that the lights are okay not the best of disco lights
the 600 version is better than the 500 
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Posted By: norty303
Date Posted: 27 November 2009 at 12:37pm
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Ryan, chasestereo on here is selling some Robe 250XT's, you could do a lot worse than speaking to him (imho) ------------- My laser stuff: http://www.facebook.com/SubsonicSystems" rel="nofollow - Frikkin Lasers |
Posted By: JohnnyPyro
Date Posted: 27 November 2009 at 3:22pm
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Ryan dont touch the SCX's notorious for the control boards breaking down, very pourly built too and the fact theyre halogen, martin minimacs have various problems , main one being the gobos are held in a plastic casing that tends to break very easy, which leads to the gobo falling out and taking out the colour wheel etc, the abstract VR8's also suffer control board problems and the VR8r's are getting pretty rare these days best 3 to look out for are miniscans, xt250's and VRX's, easy to work on and easy to get parts if youre after a pair of moving heads i have a pair of robe 160xt's for sale in the for sale section ------------- Pyrotechnics... its not rocket science, well.... actually it is !! :o) Powered by MC2 & XTA |
Posted By: mk2_ginger_biscuit69
Date Posted: 27 November 2009 at 4:32pm
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only problem with scanners is the mirrors tend to catch the eye of simple folk and get them into a trance, like a budgey, moving heads dont have this isssue ------------- ''Remember that the object of a subwoofer is to enhance the output of your main speakers, not overpower it'' ''Dubstep - an elongated electronic fart'' |
Posted By: Ryan94
Date Posted: 30 November 2009 at 10:13pm
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ok cheers, well i think i have narowed it down to ither the martin 812s, vr8/vrx or mini macs if i can find some going cheap.
i now it seems as if i have been asking questions for ages. but while saving the money i keep looking at different options and getting all confused. cheers for all the help. hopefully after xmas i will have got enough money and i will let you now what i bought.
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