(Issue 70) there was a review of the Equinox Slender Beam Bar Quad. The review was favourable, with the fi xture’s key features – including its independently-controllable heads and quad-colour LEDs – receiving just praise. Since then, Prolight Concepts has released the Equinox Slender Beam Centrepiece, a new addition to the Slender range that takes the best features of the Slender Beam Bar Quad and rearranges them into a centrepiece unit. 7722 The Slender Beam Centrepiece features six moving heads, each housing a 10W CREE quad-colour LED and each with 540⁰ pan and 270⁰ tilt movement.

Add to this the concise 4⁰ beam angle, and we have the potential for some bright, tight colour beams and room-fi lling eff ects. Achieving these eff ects is possible in a number of ways, with Equinox having equipped the Slender Beam Centrepiece with Auto, Sound Active and DMX modes, as well as the option of using a CA-8 controller. In the basic Auto or ‘show’ mode you’ll fi nd there are four lightshows to choose from, off ering a variety of movements, slow to fast, spread out or concentrated, and utilising diff erent colour combinations.

One particular eff ect that looks great is when the beams cluster together and then spiral, before shooting outwards – an attention-grabbing sequence that would look incredible with the unit mounted vertically in the centre of a rig on a goalpost or attached to the ceiling above the dance-fl oor in a fi xed install. Another eff ective built-in show involves the moving heads using their smooth pan and tilt to swing to and fro, sending coloured beams fl itting across the room.

The sound-to-light settings are just as eff ective, with the fl uid movement enabled by the unit’s stepper motors allowing the beams to sweep through the air while running through the four built-in shows. Shooting out from the centre of a lighting rig these beams look incredibly eff ective, more so when used with fog and haze. The beams themselves are made up of RGBW combinations, with the fl exible quadcolour LEDs generating sleek purples, radiant ambers and colder blues and whites.

Where the movement is concerned, I found that the heads were responsive, smooth and kept pace with the music, no matter how fast the tempo. At this point I also noticed how quiet the fi xture is, with very little noise coming from the moving heads or the main body. With so many heads producing light in all directions, I don’t doubt that you could easily get by using only the Auto and Sound Active modes. However, the Equinox Slender Beam Centrepiece also boasts comprehensive DMX control using up to 39 channels.

With 1, 6, 18, 20 and 39-channel modes to choose from, the fi xture more than satisfi es the needs of even the most adventurous mobile DJ. Control over EQUINOX SLENDER BEAM CENTREPIECE EQUINOX the pan, tilt and dimmer for each pressive lightshow head means you can go into detail one Slender and create exciting scenes that vertically onto make the most of the unit’s flexible vide a movement and bright 10W LEDs. for the rig, while You can also control variable speed horizontally from strobing, which is great for parties above the with younger crowds, and use the crowd with flexibility of the unit’s quad-colour from above.

In LEDs to create different colour out power hues for each individual head. Anthe rear, you other useful feature is that the unit convenience of automatically returns to Sound Acstraight through. tive mode should it lose the DMX control signal, so you can experi- We all know DJs ment with DMX programming safe metry, especially in the knowledge that you can lighting! So return to automatic sound-to-light Beam Centrepiece displays when DMX is stopped or our rig, with you disconnect your XLR lead. wash fixtures mounted in Taking things further, you can even give us an link multiple Slender Beam Centrestyle central pieces together for master/slave the attention operation or full-on DMX control.

This exciting This means if you wanted to put in lighting is an some effort and create a really imsetups that EQUINOX SLENDER BEAM CENTREPIECE SLENDER BEAM CENTREPIECE you could clamp or other, fallen out of favour in Beam Centrepiece recent years. I think the modern a goalpost, to prolooking Slender Beam Centrepiece forward-facing focal point is a great way to return to this tried hanging a second and tested formula. The spiralling, a truss suspended criss-crossing beams offered by the dance-floor to cover the fixture can bring something special movement and colour to an event, while the CA-8 conaddition, with IEC in/ troller means the unit can easily be connections provided on switched on and off so you can save also have the added it for those special ‘centrepiece morunning your power ments’.

One question you may well have like to work in symconcerning the Slender Beam when it comes to Centrepiece is: ‘Just how big is mounting the Slender this thing?’ Well, I can honestly in the middle of tell you that, despite housing six single moving heads, independently-controllable moving and other effects heads, the whole unit weighs just pairs either side, can 11kg and the main body measures eye-catching, cartwheel- 25cm deep (perhaps 30cm with a effect that will hold bracket attached).

These depth of our audiences. measurements, especially, make it ‘centrepiece’ effect an incredibly shallow centrepiece. element of mobile DJ Yes, that makes the Slender has, for some reason Beam Centrepiece well-suited for installation in clubs, but it’s also product either; the ideal for mobile DJs working in smart matt-black venues and function rooms with as I already noted, low ceilings and limited space; fairly compact and whether you mount it vertically as it’ll be the effects a crowd-facing effect or take the fixture itself, that time to mount it horizontally above ence’s attention. the dance-floor.

I don’t have anything Furthering this versatility, I was tive to say about the also interested to find that the fix- Beam Centrepiece, ture comes in an all-white housing that are worth taking version. While I haven’t seen the are thinking of adding white Slender Beam Centrepiece setup. The fi rst is first-hand, I can see how it could be to see this fi xture reach incredibly useful for wedding DJs. In and your audience to fact, it’s one of the only centrepiece fi ts, it only really works units to come in white, so it’s handy haze.

If you don’t use if you’re someone trying to build an this may not be the all-white rig, the choice for which you. The other thing is usually rather limited. Going for is that, while there the white version is a smart move: products on the it looks cleaner, sleeker and is ideal that the smaller versions for chic parties, elegant wedding fer the same impressive receptions and modern, minimalsix independently-controllable istic venues. That’s not to say the ing heads you get black version isn’t a good-looking Beam Centrepiece. heads come in a All in all, the Equinox Slender plastic finish and, Beam Centrepiece is compact, the main body is lightweight and versatile – so that unobtrusive, so should be three ticks on the list of rather than the any mobile DJ!

What makes this catch your audiproduct so desirable, however, is its room-filling colour beam effects, which are unpredictable (in overtly negaa good way), incredibly bright and Equinox Slender brilliantly eye-catching. Oh, and just a few things don’t forget those moving heads: note of if you six of them and each one separately one to your controllable via DMX, giving us the that if you want kind of creative scope that DMX is its potential meant for. feel the benewith fog and If your rig is missing that special such eff ects, something or you’re looking to right product for replace an older fixture with one to bear in mind benefiting from recent technology, are other similar why not give this nifty centrepiece market, you’ll fi nd fixture a go and put some pizazz will not ofback into your lightshow?

You’ll be eff ect as the hard pushed to find this level of vermovsatility at such a reasonable price with the Slender anywhere else on the market. EQUINOX SLENDER BEAM CENTREPIECE T h e o o for the in of N NEW O N W OVO P A RO V WI A REL I E L SS A M B IC R L AN E GE ! so the PS1 2277 nneeww pprroodduuccttss check them Designed and Engineered in email: info@ t h SEE THE NOVOPRO RANGE ONLINE The SDX booth has been designed and engineered by working performers to be the most practical and versatile entertainment booth on the market.

Manufactured in a tough and durable, powder coated steel finish with solid welded construction points, the SDX booth is built to last. The elasticated, machine washable white scrim panels allow rear projection of a lighting effect to give you a professional presentation at your gig. Offering a practical 1m shelf height, booth is fully adjustable in height (from 1.8m to 2.4m) and also width (from 1.44m to nearly 2m) The unique sliding shelf system gives a working area of 1.2m wide x 48cm deep.

There are no less than 11 fixture mounting points on the top the bar which can be split into 2 x T bars or one continuous bar. The SDX booth comes supplied with two zipped carry bags for easy transportation. There are a full range of brackets and other accessories available, SDX booth can be customised to your individual requirements. PODIUM WS1 CDJ WORKSTATION aavvaaiillaabbllee ttoo vviieeww oonnlliinnee -- all out at: the UK by Working Performers