American DJ Lighting the Way

Joe Fucini, spokesman for American DJ companies, says one of the greatest – and greenest – technological advancements for the DJ/club industry has been LED lights. “It’s not exclusive to American DJ, but we’re 100 percent dedicated to the technology and hope all our competitors are too,” he says. “It’s good for the industry and it’s especially good for the environment.”

Citing just one of scores of products that use this technology affectively, Fucini points to the new X Move LED. “If it was a halogen lamp, it would need a 250 watt bulb. This product uses the equivalent of 44 watts. Just think of using it to replace lights in different venues – concerts, churches, etc. … the impact is unimaginable!”

Comparable to a 250W halogen lamp in output, the X-Move LED’s LED beam shines through the fixture’sa color and gobo wheels to create images and patterns that look like they were produced by a traditional halogen or discharge effect. And the effects are indistinguishable from a conventional moving head to the eye, plus the unit offers the benefits and ease of LED technology, such as a long 50,000-hour rated lamp life. And it’s small and weighs barely 12 pounds, “making it easily transportable for bands and mobile entertainers which is an important consideration with today’s high fuel costs. Now on top of all this, it gives off 10percent of the heat of traditional lights. For a club running it’s A/C high, that’s considerable.”

“There are a lot of new LED lighting effects coming on the market, but the X-Move LED is a truly unique technological breakthrough that will take moving heads to the next level,” said Scott Davies, General Manager of the American DJ Group of Companies. “It doesn’t just create colored LED beams, it actually produces a hard-edge white 20W beam that’s powerful enough to project through color and gobo wheels and send images and beams around the room, just like a traditional halogen or discharge moving head. So essentially you’re getting the same type of effects, but with a big edge in performance, convenience and portability because of the unit’s LED technology.”

Fucini encourages MI retailers to bring these factors up to their DJ and band customers. While they might not be as concerned with the energy consumption, as typically they are plugging into the club or reception hall’s owner, as more are made sensitive to environmental concern, it could be a factor. “More immediately, though, there is a payback with the fact that the lamps do not need replacing,” he stresses. “These performers want to focus on their playing or DJing, and not have to worry about switching out bulbs. Also the less heat means the performer will be more comfortable under the lights.”

All green aspects of LED should be appealing to the MI retailer who has long learn that setting up these lights in a showroom not only increases sales of the lighting gear, but also showcases instruments. The payback in terms of electricity used and low maintenance is significant enough to replace halogen lights with LEDs ones immediately.

“Lighting is the critical element of going green for the industry, where performers can make an immediate difference,” Fucini says. “There may or may not be significant advancements in how say, a guitar amplifier is powered, but with lighting, this is where the rubber meets the road. LED is one of the most advanced tools to come around in a long time, and has the ecological implications have been revolutionary.”