ADJ Encore FR150z

I have bought four FR150Z and one FR50Z, as an upgrade from PAR incandescents. The difference is night and day! These LED stage lights are all aluminium construction, very solid (and heavy compared to their "tin can" predecessors!). Better optics than a PAR lamp mean that the beam is more even, and the Fresnel zoom is very well behaved. The colour stays constant under dimming, unlike a yellowing filament lamp. The FR50Z is more than a replacement for an incandescent 300W PAR56, while the FR150Z is somewhere between 500W and 1000W equivalent.

The FR50Z (purchased first) was about the size I was expecting, but I wasn't ready for the size of the FR150Z! At around 7 kg, it's a bit of a monster. This may be more a reflection of my own expectations, than the ADJ's offering, when compared to the opposition.

On default settings, there is a bit of a flicker when adjusting the brightness, due to the high speed of LEDs and the fact that by default DMX only supports 256 (8 bit) lighting levels. This is probably true for ALL LED theatre lights, however. The latest software (V1.09) appears to have fixed a couple of earlier limitations on achieving smooth dimming, which I now judge to be very smooth indeed. Set "Dimming Curve" to 1 (Stage lamp), and "Dim Curve" to Square, to replicate the dimming speed and output curve of a conventional incandescent theatre light. Nice. There are some other modes, but frankly I see no use for them.

The four-button and LCD display menu structure is fairly standard, but bears little resemblance to the supplied manual. It can take a while to find the setting you want. Best to set the lamps up, before you fly them!

For the larger FR150Z. Power consumption varies from around 4.5W (a little disappointing, if your lights are powered up 24/7) when "off", to the advertised 135W when fully "on", with a good power factor of 0.9. The FR50Z shows correspondingly lower power figures, but a frankly disappointing power factor of about 0.5, which points to a cheaper specification power supply than its larger brother, within.

Both units come with automatic temperature controlled fans which won't cause you any issues if the lamps are up high and in anything other than a silent environment, but are more noticeable in a domestic setting. The fans kick in at 40C, and keep the larger FR150Z to under 55C, which is good for the life of the LED. Compared to incandescents, these lamps run WAY cooler.

I cannot compare these ADJ lamps with other manufacturer's offerings, but they feel very solid to me, and I am very happy with them. The manufacturer releases comprehensive data sheets (unlike some others! Draw your own conclusions) which suggest a CRI of around 96, which is very good indeed. A pleasant, neutrally warm white colour.

Excellent buying experience from Thoman!