Dodd Technologies, Inc. in Pendleton, Indiana has taken delivery of the first U.S. shipment of Ayrton KHAMSIN-S fixtures. The newly designed profile luminaire offers a 750-watt LED module in the highly compact GHIBLI format while offering 60 percent more light output. ACT Lighting, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton products in North America.
Dodd Technologies is a full-service production company and owner of Tyler Truss Systems whose clients range from corporate, live broadcast, sporting events, and touring. Dodd expanded its equipment inventory with a compliment of KHAMSIN-S fixtures to be used primarily for show work.
“Clients come to us looking for solutions, and we usually design their shows. So when we make a purchase we consider what makes the most sense to use on a multitude of shows and what provides the best ROI,” explains Lighting and Production Designer Andy Meggenhofen.
Dodd’s ageing automated light inventory was due for an upgrade, and Meggenhofen discovered KHAMSIN when he was shopping for new LED fixtures with a bright and consistent output.
“We’ve known about Ayrton fixtures for quite a while and have made a lot of purchases from ACT Lighting,” he notes. “We had originally seen the Ayrton GHIBLI and loved its feature set.”
“We started looking at some competitors then Ayrton’s KHAMSIN came out, and it struck us as the perfect fit,” says Meggenhofen. “ACT got us a demo unit, we did a shoot out with other brands and KHAMSIN stood out. It’s not missing a feature. It’s got everything the GHIBLI has plus the brightness of higher-level units. It gives a consistent color temperature and has really good optics, good color mixing and shutters.”
KHAMSIN-S is designed for scenic applications. It delivers a powerful metallic white light with a record-breaking output of 40,000 lumens and a color temperature of 6500 K. Its high-quality optics offer excellent image reproduction and produce an extremely uniform flat beam with no hot spots. A full effects section includes two gobo wheels, a continuous dynamic effects wheel and frost filters.
“From its zoom to its gobos to the speed of its color changes and consistent color temperature, KHAMSIN impressed us,” Meggenhofen says. “It’s also a very good looking light. It has nice lines and can disappear with no light leakage. Or it can sit onstage and not distract – it looks very elegant.
“The unit is compact, and the base unit is nice and small for the hang,” he adds. “We’re going to enjoy its small size and hanging options: It can get around truss cords and other things and be exactly where you want it.”
Shortly after receiving its complement of KHAMSINs Dodd used the fixtures for a big corporate show. “We now had bright units that could hold their own against all the LED screens on the stage,” says Meggenhofen. “And KHAMSIN was versatile enough to do video lighting for IMAG and effects lighting for entertainment. The room for this show split into three parts for smaller general sessions during the day then opened back up for an awards presentation and entertainment. That KHAMSIN was versatile enough to cover all of those applications and was a nice aspect of the new fixtures.”
