So, it's time to upgrade again, or expand? Depends how you look at it.

The debate of "intercom vs. lights" is an ongoing issue, but right now I am focussing on lights. Lighting was great at my last event, mainly because I was able to aim the lights where they were needed, which made all the difference in the world. I won't go on how the director screwed up all sorts of other stuff and panics WAY to easily.

Regardless though, and it's because of how I have to do things, the 8 ADJ 64 LED Pros I have just aren't bright enough for how I have to do things, which is to aim THROUGH the stage, instead of above/in. Don't get me started on the venue, it's a dump as it is.

So, I'm debating on which way to go. Either 8 or 16 replacement lights. I'm looking at the RGB Zoom and the Opti Tri Par. Do I go 8 of one type and that's it? 16 of one type? 8 of each?

Now, the Opti Tri Par is pretty much a drop in replacement for the 64 LED Pros, so that's attractive. Having recently redone the entire show from the ground up, a lot of work isn't a big deal, provided time is on my side. I've also heard favorable things in either this forum or the ADJ forum about the Opti Tri Pars.

The RGB zoom, I don't see how the zoom function to help remotely focus is going to help me much, but I could see doing some interesting stuff with that.

Now, on top of that, I have new crap to deal with seeing as how the shows I am doing are getting bigger and in some cases on larger stages that are not in some crap-hole dive in the middle of "Murderville", which means the chances of doing things right are greatly improved.

Budget is an issue, but I work with some dealers who might help me out there.

Another factor is that I don't necessarily want to de-commission the 64 LED Pros either. I try to not phase stuff out whenever possible.

So, recommendations are welcome, please.

I do need the following features:
Sound activem with sensitivity
RGB mixing, with a dedicated dimmer channel
Strobing with speed.
Color macros would be nice, with some speed settings too, although I've never used it yet. The sound active randomness takes care of that.

I know the Opti Tri Par meets all my requirements and runs in a 7-channel mode, which matches my 64 LED Pros in the setting I prefer to run them in.

Stages that I use are typically divided into 4 areas: left, right, center left and center right. But I have to light THROUGH the stage, not from above and slightly in front of. But I'd like just more capability and brightness.

There's no hard timeline, but I feel I need to do something fast before I end up blowing the money saved. I'm thinking "screw the intercom" and just buy lights, and if I take that mentality, I can get maybe 8 lights ordered super fast. I am learning towards the Opti Tri pars, and ideally, if money was no object, get 16 of those. But I can settle for 8 immediately.

Thanks for the input!

Buy the Opti Tri pars. Now go call your dealer!

I'll see if I can reach him via IM in a few days!