Chauvet’s Colorado® 6 is the newest in the Colorado series of LED fixtures. The fixture is compact, consisting of three LED modules per unit. Each module consists of about a dozen 1-watt red, green and blue LEDs. The fixture resembles a 3-light Mole Fay, but each fixture can mount to another via a series of clips and knobs that are quite simple to assemble. The fixture can be turned into a long strip light for cyclorama lighting or giant wash fixtures by stacking them four wide by three tall. They have 12-inch long AC and DMX512 cables protruding from each one to make for easy daisy chaining of power and data. They draw 1.2 amps each, and you can connect 12 fixtures in series on a 120VAC 20-amp circuit, or double that amount using a 240VAC 20-amp circuit.
First off, I can’t believe how bright these babies are and how far they throw a beam. The standard unit comes with a 15° lens and that’s what I tested. They also have 10° and 30° lens kits. I took out my light meter and stood 20 feet away from the fixture. I read an output of 400 lux (37.2 footcandles) in the red alone, 100 lux (9.3 footcandles) in the blue and 600 lux (55.7 footcandles) in the green. With all LEDs at full I read 1250 lux (116 footcandles). But what really amazes me is that I was looking at a ceiling 100 feet away with just the blue LEDs on and I could see the beam is very directional. It’s not splashing the whole roof, but brightly lighting one distinct section.
The fixture is only 22 inches long by approximately 8 inches wide by 8 inches high. It has a heavy yoke that serves as a rock solid floor base on its own. The yoke swivels a full 180° and you can mount any clamp to it. The fixture also has a built in power supply so you don’t have to run extra cables. It is auto-voltage sensing between 100-240 volts so it can run on any power grid in the world. The fixture is convection cooled through a solid metal body. All this adds up to a hefty 28-pound fixture.
The unit can operate via DMX512 with a controller or in a stand-alone mode. An LED display panel on the rear of the fixture allows you to set channels and modes. The fixture can be used outdoors and comes equipped with twist locking, sealed IP66 connectors for both the 3-pin XLR data and the Edison (NEMA 5-15) power cables.
They have come up with some clever options for ways to run this fixture from a console. First of all, you can run these in a basic three- or four-channel mode if you wish. This is for the three RGB colors, with a fourth channel for dimming the overall intensity, which controls all of the same colored LEDs in the whole fixture. But I prefer the 12-channel mode. Besides the usual RGB color mixing, Chauvet has taken this puppy to the next level by giving the user channels to control cyan, magenta and yellow. Raising the cyan channel will bring up the blue and green LEDs simultaneously, while the magenta controls red and blue simultaneously, etc. This is great for mixing colors on the fly.
Last of all, these fixtures come with the option of addressing each with a starting DMX512 address or by using their ADAS.
The Colorado series can be operated with the Colorado controller or any DMX512 controller. They come in a black finish as standard and they are rated IP66.
The Colorado 6 is a compact and very bright fixture in a clever package. It has versatile rigging options and it cables up quickly and neatly. The control options are plentiful and with the optional lenses it can be used in a variety of situations. It’s a solid fixture and a great tool for any lighting designer.
What it is: An LED color wash fixture that can be configured as a linear batten, a bank of wash, or an individual 3-cell fixture
Who it’s for: Anyone who needs bright LED color wash in a versatile package
Pros: It’s bright, it has many control options, and it’s built well with very adaptable hardware
Cons: It’s slightly heavy for its size
Retail Price: $2,500 (MAP)
