I always get in a heated debate with other Lighting guys about your products. I'm a regular on DJforums.com and there is always someone on the lighting page bashing Elation and saying how Martin is so better and No LD's use Elation at all. I love Elation products but I don't have the ammo to fight this battle. I need some specs or stats to prove my point that Elation is just as good or better than Martin.

Ive Been Using Elation Products since 03'.Started out with 26 powerspot/power wash 250's, Now i Have the new design spot 575's 12 of them and 6 power wash 575's, Did major tours with American Idol, Tigres Del Norte, Vince Neil Of Motley Crue, and so many other artists, That prefer Elation over Martin or High End. Dont get me wrong here, High end And martin Are great Brands, But why Pay So Much For So little. Elation's Lights offer so much more for your money. I would Stick to Elation Great service And MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK Guys.

Thanks I'll use some of that in my arguement, I know I get more bang for the buck, I just don't know all the stats of that statement. I have set through several Elation Roadshows with Eric Loeder and listened to all of the good stats vs Martin but of course didn't take notes

ya but even if you can prove it. will they really listen? believe me i was ready to do battle on anyone that tried to bash this company but i have learned to let it go cause if people don't want to hear it.......they wont! take notes bro!! lol also if you look close enough on some old concert bootleg footage on youtube of creeds weathered tour. you will find elation power spot 575's and washes aswell!

Hi DJbutter.
Elation Vs. Martin just started about 2-3 years ago.. 3 years ago Elation was not what we are now. Martin has a 20 year history. So it's stands that even to Elation, Martin is a well respected company that has had to endure huge price increases due to the Euro. None the less Martin has great engineers that have a history of creating great products.. this is why they are where they are.
Elation is a company where we strive to follow the High End philosophy. High end was known for good products and good service when service was needed. Customer's did not have a problem getting support from High End and people were very happy with them. So that's all were really stiving for. Our motto is to bring great value and inovation to a product at an affordable price. Elation has German and US engineers and designers and together with our Asian manufacturers are able to bring to the US a really good afordable fixture.
Either way, I never recommend getting in a heated discussion with any Martin fans, its a no win battle.
Instead, always agree with them on that Martin is good and it never breaks, then this should leave you with open minds as to your opinions on other products that you've tried.
The other thing is, if you've never used a Martin fixture, then you really shouldn't say anything about a product you've never used, because that just puts you on the same side as the Martin Fan.

Either way, keep up the good work, and look out for our Design Spot 1400E and Design Spot 300E... These are going to be some awesome fixtures.

Best regards,

Martin, while a great company, does charge a lot for their products, as much as Vari-Lite and they are by no means on the same level as Vari-Lite. What a lot of people forget is that Martin originally started the same way as Elation did. They where a company who catered to the DJ crowd and slowly moved up to compete with Vari-Lite and High End. They have forgotten their roots however, as they still aren't on the same level as Vari-Lite but charge that much for their gear. I will take a VL2000 or VL2500 every time over a Mac 700. They are built far better, more road worthy, very easy to crack open and work on, and have the same if not more features for the price. Any LD who says otherwise hasn't experienced the power and ease of VL or have not worked on one for themselves.

High End is a totally different story. They have left the low and middle ground market all together and are only making high end consoles and fixtures now, Hog 3, DL3, and Showgun for example. They don't work on the level of companies like Elation, Martin, or Vari-Lite any more. It will be interesting to see how they response to the new GrandMA2 however (Hog 4 anyone?).

Now, onto my stories about Elation and the successes I have had with them. First, the price. As stated, the price/performance blows Martin away. This means I can rent Elation gear cheaper, which means more gear on site, which means a better show, which means a happier client. My clients don't care what type of gear is one site, as long as it gets the job done. Do you really think big name stars care either? They don't care as long as they get what they are looking for and it works.

Next, I would have to say the feature set on Elation products is great. They add more features for less, but at the same time features that I use, and use often. For example, animation wheel in the DS 575 vs the Mac 575 with none. How about 2 full rotating wheels instead of one static and one rotating in the Mac 575? The DS also has CMY and a color wheel vs 2 color wheels. How about a faster strobe, 13hz vs 10hz, and a frost filter in the DS vs none in the Mac 575? The only real advantage the Mac 575 has vs the DS 575 is a little better optic train, so it's a little bit brighter, and 16bit control over dimming (Pretty useless), color wheels (I never use), rotating gobos (Extremely useful when adding costume gobos, ELATION PLEASE ADD THIS) iris (Useless), focus (Sometimes useful), and zoom (Useless).

Then ask your friends about how Elation is the only company (soon to be one of two) with a moving head LED fixture that matches a 575 wash. People love the things, and I loved it when I saw it myself. Small and powerful. Why are your friends spending more for less? Also, Martin does nothing with LEDs, big disadvantage since that is the way the market is heading.

If you would like more info, like reviews I have done with the Impression vs a PS575, Mac 700 vs PS 700 CMY, a review I did about the Opti 30 RGBs, which I love by the way, or even a DLED 36 vs a 750w Source Four ParNel, let me know and I will be happy to post more info.

Tell them to go fight that battle over at www.lightnetwork.com there are thousands of people who HATE Martin with a passion. They will get plenty of reasons why martin is bad. I love Elation and will never stop using them, but the point is, every company has its strengths and weaknesses. If you do a show using a variety of companies you are bound to have a light that will pick up the slack that others leave down. They should all work together.

Well, got to go! I'll finish later.

jthtiger

I have had a chance to play around with both a ds575 and aswell as a new ds300. And both fixtures really amazed me. It will be a hard pick between the two for anyone considering to buy either or. But a selling point for me is the two rot. Gobo wheels in the 575.

I have Plenty of pics of Martin300's vs elation250's If you want pics just email me.

I've worked with both brands and I'm just not wowed by Martin. They have yet to prove to me that my money is buying me something I'll be happy with making the investment in. I'm not saying that they don't get the job done. Rather, it's just what I'm considering when I would make a serious investment in lighting.

Elation, on the other hand, has totally wowed me and made me a firm believer in their products. From dimmer packs to moving heads, I know who to count on. Features, yes. Reliability, yes. Quality: yes. Worthiness of investment, absolutely! I truly feel that Elation has gone the extra mile to make their products both accessible and of the highest quality possible.

Specifically, I am in love with the Design Spot. All I can say is WOW.

lightech wait till you get your hands on a DS 300!! so fun!

When I first heard about the DS 300s, I was excited. Then I hard the price point and was a little upset.

A DS 250 lists for $2500. A DS 300 lists for $4600. The differance in the two fixtures feature wise, 250w vs 300w, no CMY vs CMY, magnetic ballast vs electronic ballast, 20 degree beam vs 22 degree beam. Lamp life, 3000 hours vs 1000 hours. If it were me, I would much rather go for 2 DS 250s over one DS 300. CMY, while great, won't be very punchy at 300w. I find sometimes when using it with 700w fixtures that it can be lack luster on certain colors.

Also, the DS 575 lists for $900 more then the DS 300. The differences between these two are huge I feel. CMY and color wheel vs just color wheel, 2 rotating gobo wheels vs one static one rotating, 15-30 degree zoom vs 22 degree fixed, animation wheel vs none, and the big one, 575w 1000 hour lamp vs 300w 1000 hour lamp.

I am by no means saying that the DS 300 line is not and/or will not be any good. I just feel it is priced a little high for what it is. I think I would much rather pay $400 more for 2 DS 250s, or $900 more for a DS 575, just how I feel. I would be more interested in the price was more around $3800. It also gives room then to add a DS 400 line at that $4600 price, a Mac 550 competitor. That would then give a light at every point, from 250w to 1200-1400w when the new DS 1400 series is released.

I think once you get beyond looking at just the MSRP, you'll probably see the price difference between the DS250 and the DS300 to be more in the $1500-ish range, rather than the $2100 difference in the MSRP.

You'll have to evaluate the price difference as being a worthwhile investment in the new features (depending upon your interests, of course).

By just doing a quick search online, you will see that the DS300 is selling below $3800, so there you go.

I certainly wouldn't mind playing with the DS300 if I got the chance. What would make it sweeter would be to mess with it on the Show Designer 3...

At the same time the DS 250 is below $2500 too. I listed list prices because they are readily available on Elation's website. I can tell you what M.A.P. is for those fixtures as well, but it would be unfair to dealers who try to get the most out of each sale. At the end of the say however, you will still be able to get 2 DS 250s for about $400 more then one, maybe even less because the profit for the dealer might be greater on two DS 250s vs one DS 300.

Hey Guys.. all I have to say is the Design Spot 300 has light output similar to a 575.
If you were to put a 575W fixture and a Design Spot 300 next to each other at say 30 ft.. they look the same in output.

But when you get to 60 - 80 ft.. the 575 wins.

So its that initial punchy output at the 20-30' distance with the standard 22º beam that makes you say Wow, when you look at it.

So its something you need to see for yourself.

Those of you in production know how crucial light output is.. so if you can get it from a smaller fixture and not have to buy a 575, then the price on the 300 doesn't sound so bad.. Also remembering that our 575 is over $1000.00 less than the competitors.