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View Full Version : Platinum Spot 5R vs. 250 Entour



Nick_EventPro
03-30-2012, 12:40 PM
I've been going back and forth as to what new small profiles to add to my rig. I narrowed it down to these two options, and thought I had settled on the 5R despite some of the reliability issues I heard about these lights.

After speaking with the distrobuter, he confirmed that the 5Rs did have some issues in the beginning, but since then had cleared up substantially. Going on that info, I bought just a pair of the 5Rs to test out with the thought of adding more to the rig once I had a chance to play with them a bit.

I have to say, I love these lights, and the hyrid frost filter I can see being really useful. Plus, they are insanely bright. Here comes the BUT...

But, of course I still had concerns of reliability and the small gobo sizing. Well, one of the units has a bad tilt motor right out of the box. Maybe I got some bad units, but the horror stories Ive read in combination of this bad tilt motor on arrival make me really want to re-think hanging onto these.

I'm asking opinions on what you guys would do. Swap out the 5R with the fulty motor, or just swap them both and buy entours. I know I'm giving up that nice frost filter, and probably a bit of brightness as well as some size/weight, but I'd probably gain reliability, parts availibility, and just some general peace of mind. Or, maybe look into something like the design spot 250 instead? What are your thoughts?

Thanks!

PS. one of the large rental houses in the area I'm affiliated with runs martin, they don't stock any small profiles so the ability to cross rent may be available.

DJStevieRay
03-30-2012, 12:48 PM
Actually the Entours are quite a bit brighter in actuality than the 5R's with a wider beam angle.

250 Entours (18 degree Beam)
Illuminance (lux) 18111@3M 4528@6M 2012@9M 1132@12M 724@15M

Platinum 5R's (16 degree beam)
Illuminance (lux) 15290@2.5M 3915@5M 1781@7.5M

As you can see even with a wider beam angle, the Martin's are brighter at further distances.

The Platinum's are great lights, no doubt about it, but the Martin's would be my choice in this situation. Now if you were comparing the Entours to the Platinum 15R's, then it's a whole new ballgame.

Nick_EventPro
03-30-2012, 12:54 PM
I know the specs, but I'd want to see them side by side. I'm not doubting that the Martins might be brighter, but I'd want to confirm this. I am starting to think about ditching the elations and just picking up the mac250s. Maybe even the kryptons to save some cash... not sure yet.

DJ M&M
03-30-2012, 08:59 PM
Entours

LiteTrix
03-30-2012, 09:39 PM
There's not much difference between the Entour and Krypton except for the second gobo wheel in the Entour. That being said if if your really stuck on the Martins I would just go with the Kryptons unless 10 more gobos is really needed.


I have actually seen both the 250's and 5R's in person and going based on what I saw the 250's were brighter and there was a significant difference between the two. Something else you have to keep in mind is the price of the 5R. For the price you get a crap load of features that are very useful. One of them being the forst filter, the 20 something gobos the fixture packs inside, and a iris which neither 250 has.

How about the 5R pro and the 15R? The 5R pro has CMY if thats something that interests you. Also whats your budget and how many were you looking to get? I remember you making a similar post to this on DJ forums 1.0 but in regards to the Qspots. Are you still using those or are these lights going to be replacing those?


Props to Stevie on his technical details.

Nick_EventPro
03-30-2012, 10:36 PM
Yeah, its just the second gobo wheel (which is useful for some cool effects) and the lens options. Overall minor differences- which is why I tossed the Kryton into the mix.

I'm not "stuck" on the martins, but I'm leaning that direction. I actually possess a pair of the 5Rs, and as I said, I heard there were some reliability issues early in the line but that they were resolved so I took a gamble on them. Fire them up and one has a bad tilt motor right out of the box. 5R vs 15R is irrelevent it seems, I'm more concerned with reliability, and this doesn't exactly leave me sitting well with elation in general. I'm also questioning the gobo sizing in the 5R, which is why I'm thinking I'm just going to ditch them and go with Martin and be done with it.

My budget is $2,000 per fixture, I was looking to get 4 to start, and another 4 down the road.

I was going back and forth between getting some nice movers and buying a bunch more Q-Spots. Ultimately, I decided to get into some nicer lights. I'm going to keep my q spots (or maybe sell them, I'm not sure) but I'm trying to standardize now- so I'm leaning on building a JBL/Martin house.

And yes, props to stevie. =)

DJStevieRay
03-30-2012, 11:15 PM
Thanks Guys....

PS. Nick congrats on the write up by Chauvet!

Adam B
03-31-2012, 03:51 PM
Nick, I was in this same exact senerio about a year ago. I ended up going with Kryptons just because of what I also read on the 5r. Don't get me wrong the 5r seems like a nice light with a lot of features, especially the frost. But I did read some people having issues with the light, I'm not sure why that was, but it worried me a little when purchasing a $2000ish fixture. I went with the Kryptons because of the proven reliability, I honestly don't know the build quility of the 5r but the Krypton is built like a tank. So far, mine have been flawless, I do really like them even though they don't have quite as many features, it is a very good light. Let us know what route you go, you have some very nice setups/equipment.

Nick_EventPro
03-31-2012, 04:00 PM
Well i went to take care of this today. Last night i had my mind pretty much set on swapping the 5R out for a pair of entours. Turns out, according to my distributer, martin is discontinuing the 250s... both the krypton and the entour. Cant get any more entours, and had to wait on kryptons, but i saw them side by side. The krypton was no where near brightness or feature set of the 5R, though i dont know the hrs on the lamp that was in it.

Im still very skeptical of the 5R and the whole thing doesnt sit well with me. Im going to hang on to the 5Rs i have for now, not buy anymore, and see what martin decides to replace the mac250s with...

Thank you for the compliments. Ill probably write more when i get back to the office.

Adam B
03-31-2012, 09:10 PM
Interesting that Martin is discontinuing them. Like you said Nick, I would be curious on what they would be replacing them with. Probably something LED???

Nick_EventPro
04-02-2012, 12:53 AM
Interesting that Martin is discontinuing them. Like you said Nick, I would be curious on what they would be replacing them with. Probably something LED???

We called the Martin rep- no details as of yet. If I were to guess... I doubt LED, they already have the 350 entour. Probably something more in line with the 5Rs? Really not sure. I'd hope to see something by infocomm.
There were still some kryptons available in my area (east cost) but the 250 entours were gone.

DJ M&M
04-02-2012, 10:36 AM
They might have discontinued them but i guarantee you there is hundreds of them out there being sold you just have to look. If not the 350 is ur best

Nick_EventPro
04-02-2012, 10:50 AM
They might have discontinued them but i guarantee you there is hundreds of them out there being sold you just have to look. If not the 350 is ur best

This may be true, but I get the best pricing buying direct and new. I don't want to overspend to find used, discontinued units. The 350 entours are nice, but I'm thinking out of budget, and no prism kinda bugs me.

Adam B
04-02-2012, 07:15 PM
I guess we will have to see what Martin comes up with. I am always interested in their products.