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| About Us |
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We stock all the major brands such as DMC, Numark, Gemini, Martin, JEM, Soundlab, NJD, Acme, Allen and Heath, KAM, Skytronic, and PCDJ.
ENTERTAINERS: We supply and support a large number of our local DJ's, musicians, cabaret artists, karaoke shows, magicians, etc with our products such as disco equipment, karaoke machines and smoke machines.
LEISURE VENUES: We supply and fit sound, lighting and video systems in pubs, hotels, social clubs, leisure attractions etc. Go to our sister site www.gk-audio-visual.co.uk to see our full portfolio.
HIRE: We have a full range of hire equipment: if you are planning a party, celebration, family get-together etc, then why not hire a disco, a karaoke machine or a glitter ball? See our HIRE page for a full listing of our available equipment and services.
CONFERENCES: We supply the full A/V service if you are planning a conference, seminar or exhibition. Go to our sister site www.gk-audio-visual.co.uk to see our full portfolio.
We can supply all your disco equipment and entertainment equipment needs, from PA systems, amplifiers, disco balls, glitter balls, karaoke machines and smoke machines.
Our product range includes amplifiers, mixing desks, bubble machines, snow machines, hard drive players, karaoke discs, lighting consoles, headphones, microphones and much, much more!
REPAIRS: Don’t hesitate to contact us about any of our services or products, from repairs to our disco equipment, disco balls, glitter balls, karaoke machines and smoke machines. Our services cover the Whole UK and stock all the leading brands: DMC, Numark, Gemini, Martin, JEM, Soundlab, NJD, Acme, Allen and Heath, KAM, Skytronic, PCDJ.
Our phone no. is 01209 314144 - PLEASE NOTE - in order to stop unsolicited marketing calls this number does not accept calls from withheld numbers - to get through dial 1470 first, this will release your number for the one call. |
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Disco Equipment |
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A comparison between 'cheap' and 'expensive' lighting effects.
There are various factors that contribute to the cost of lighting effects. This includes the running costs as well as the purchase cost.
First of all, let's consider the purchase cost. What can manufacturers do to save money?
1. Use thinner metal in the construction. Thus the unit is more prone to damage or bending.
2. Use less metal, and thus less strengthening. We also see less-effective positioning screws that strip threads easily.
3. Where the lighting effect uses low voltage lamps (12, 24, 36 volts), they can use cheaper transformers. These tend to be what is known as 'badly regulated' which means that the output voltage to the lamp will not always be correct. Small overvoltages make lamps blow much quicker.
4. Where the lighting effect uses 2 x 120volt lamps in series (ENH or CP96), the usual thing to happen is that 1 lamp 'blows', creates a short circuit that then applies the full 240 volts to the remaining 120volt lamp, and they don't like it up 'em!!
5. Use a cheaper lampholder. We have seen this where a 250w lamp is fitted in a 100w holder, and then you wonder why it burns out frequently!
6. Use insufficient fixings. We have seen effects where bits fall off because the fixings don't have any locknuts.
7. There are many instances of units imported to the UK fitted with transformers which are designed to run on 220 volts. Our voltage is actually 230/240. When you run one of these units in the UK, the higher input voltage results in a higher output voltage. In the case of a 24 volt lamp, this can find itself on the receiving end of 25-27 volts or more, depending on how good the transformer regulation is, and again you find that lamps don't last.
8. The 120 and 240 volt lamps don't suffer from the transformer or overvoltage problem, but the two unique problems are: the 240 volt lamps are usually CP97 or M38. CP97's are a very fragile lamp, if not handled with care whilst warm or hot they break. I have personally broken a brand CP97 new lamp just by switching it on and tapping the case! CP97's are also fairly expensive (around £9). M38's are more robust than CP97's, but are even more expensive.
The 120volt lamps are either CP96's, which are as fragile as the CP97, and the ENH120 which tens to be more robust. Both are expensive, and the series connection creates the blowing in pairs problem, which makes it doubly expensive!!
9. Use cheaper optics. This doesn't constitute a problem when you see the effect working on its own, but to illustrate the difference, come to my showroom. I'll show you 2 lighting effects from different manufacturers. Both units give the same effect, and both use exactly the same lamp. One is a lot more expensive, but is twice as bright.
10. Use a smaller fan. Fan cooling is essential for most lights. The better the airflow, the cooler the lamp and its holder runs, and the longer they last. Cool air also helps the other electrical bits in the unit to last longer.
Running costs: You can deduce most of this from the above. Lamps that blow frequently, lampholders that burn out, bits that fall off etc etc. Most filament lamps are only rated for 50 hours life, this is only 10 nights work at 5 hours use a night, so it makes sense to use units with lower priced lamps.
Time for an example: let's take a moving mirror light. I've got two particular versions on show at the moment. One costs £200 to purchase, and uses an A1/259 24v 250w filament lamp. This is a fairly good lamp in itself, rated at 50 hours life and costs £7 to replace.
The other unit costs £400 to purchase, and uses a 150w discharge lamp, but the brightness of such a lamp is more akin to a 400w filament lamp. The lamp costs £40 (!!) to replace BUT is rated at 6000 hours life. No it's not a mistake, I said SIX THOUSAND HOURS LIFE. If you ran the 2 units, you would need to replace 120 filament lamps in 6000 hours of use, this would cost you £840. Therefore the cheaper unit would cost you £1040 to use for 6000 hours, whereas the more expensive one would cost you £400 for 6000 hours use. Plus the 'more expensive' one has a 2 year guarantee, the other has only one year. Now you tell me which is the 'more expensive' one!!
Okay let's get sensible. 6000 hours equates to - at 5 hours use a time, is 1200 gigs. At an average 3 gigs a week, this gives 400 weeks usage, which is 7.69 years!! You probably wouldn't keep the light unit for more than 3 years if it kept running that long without requiring major overhaul, so lets look at the cost over 3 years - 156 weeks - 3 gigs a week at 5 hours use = 2340 hours = 47 filament lamps (approx) = £329 + £200 purchase - overall cost £529. Overall, it's still better to buy the £400 unit, plus you shouldn't have the problem of a lamp going during a gig. |
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