From touring productions to festivals and corporate events, Colour Sound
Experiment has come a long way from the company’s early years as a supplier of
early moving lights to dance parties and raves. As one of the first companies to
invest in intelligent light fixtures in the UK, Colour Sound continues to operate a
firm policy of investing in the very latest products on the market to keep the
warehouse stocklist bang up to date.

It comes as little surprise then that the company has chosen to invest in a number
of Robert Juliat Merlin 2.5K HMI Followspots. Project Coordinator, Alex Ryan
explains why: “Much of Colour Sound Experiment’s market now is servicing the
larger concerts and touring bands, so it is great to have a properly designed
followspot that caters specifically for the rock and roll market.

“We’ve had Robert Juliat Super Korrigans in our stock since they were first
introduced, but Merlin is the first proper 2.5K followspot that has been designed
specifically for the demands of touring,’ he continues.

“One of the key features that attracted us to the Merlin when we initially discussed
this purchase with Lee House from Robert Juliat’s exclusive UK distributor,
Ambersphere Solutions, was the amount of “tour-ability’ that has been designed into
it. Robert Juliat quality is always a given, but the Merlin goes a step or two further.
Performance-wise it has a brilliantly even, bright throw; it more than holds its own
against videowall and LED technology. But from the integral ballast to the smooth
design without any external catches, and the rapid post-show cool-down system, it
is clearly a spot that has been designed with the touring sector as its primary
market.’

Colour Sound sent the Merlin spots straight out to work on the recent WWE
Wrestlemania Revenge Tour where the arena sized venues demanded the very best
in followspot performance. Crew Chief, Sam Campbell was impressed, “In every
aspect of touring, rigging and setting up the Merlins, we were very happy with
them. They are easy to set up and use; lightweight, and with an integral ballast that
makes handling so much easier as there is one less thing to remember and
transport to the distant, tricky rigging positions that followspots often occupy. In
arenas that can be a long and awkward journey.

“The Merlins are reliable, and have a beautiful light with an extremely flat beam.
On this tour they are being used as the sole keylights for entrances, exits and
presentations which is pretty impressive. And we love the fact that they require no
lamp adjustment. The followspot operators really enjoy using them and loved the
USB port that allows them to charge their phones! In fact, on a few occasions in
venues where we’ve had to use a combination of house spots and Merlins, we found
the spot ops fought to be on the new Merlins!’

More information on Robert Juliat Merlin followspots and other lighting fixtures can
be found at www.robertjuliat.com.