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REVIEWED
REVIEWED: CHAUVET DJ Intimidator Spot 375 ZX
The Intimidator Spot 375ZX is part of the new Intimidator range from CHAUVET DJ. Though when I say new, it’s actually been around for a few months now, as the company had the whole family on display at BPM 2022 and the Inspiration Sound and Lighting showcase night earlier this year.
Alex, CHAUVET DJ’s UK Marketing Specialist, suggested I take a closer look at the new features of the 375ZX, which I chose to run on my Wolfmix W1. But I also had a good look at the stand-alone features and built-in shows, which will also be controllable by an optional not-yet-released remote control. (You’ll need to wait until May for the full lowdown on that!)
Upon unboxing the Spot 375ZXs, I immediately fell in love with the new design of the main case, which is black with embossed ‘Intimidator’ branding. This looks much smarter than having brilliant-white text stickers splashed over the front of the fixture for all the audience to see – a huge improvement in my opinion.
Weighing in at 12.4kg (27.2lb), each unit features powerCON in and out (you can link up to four units at 120V or eight at 230V), 3-pin DMX in and out, and a full-colour LCD display (commonly found on CHAUVET DJ’s higher-end fixtures) with menu, up, down and enter buttons for controlling the settings.
For a moving head with so many features, it’s very compact, with an overall size of 322 x 220 x 466mm (12.7 x 8.7 x 18.3 inches). Two side handles make light work of hanging the fixture. When mounting, a bracket with four quick ¼-turn bolts allows for single- or dual-mounting options, and there’s a safety cable mounting point.
Light is provided by an insanely bright 200W cool-white LED and CHAUVET DJ have done an incredible job with the optics. Side by side, there was barely any difference between the Intimidator Spot 375ZXs and my current 260W LED movers, which shows that you shouldn’t take the listed brightness at face value. That said, the movers I mention are an older model and technology has moved on. For the techies out there, it’s all in the colour temperature: on this new fixture, kelvin was increased from 7,500k to 15,000k, resulting in vastly increased brightness. The light pans at 540°, 360°, 180° and on the tilt 270°, 180° and 90°– all programable from the built-in screen.
The single colour wheel provides you with seven colours, plus white, and allows for split colours and continuous scroll at variable speeds using updated Colour Temperature Orange (CTO) technology. Additionally, we get two rotating prisms (linear and circular) and a gobo wheel with seven gobos plus open.
The fixture is supplied with six metal gobos and one glass, all of which are rotating, interchangeable, indexing and slot-n-lock, with continuous scroll at variable speeds. The slot-n-lock feature is particularly useful when upselling bespoke gobos and can be changed within a minute – an easy way to generate additional income with limited effort or expense. For my weddings, I ordered some presentation boxes online and now I send the gobo to my client afterwards, along with a thank you note, whilst directing them to my review page. For corporate bookings, I keep them in my gobo library in case they come back and book again. I can then offer them the same gobo at a reduced cost (call it a storage fee!).
The standalone auto shows can be set to show with ‘slave’ heads in 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-mode to create shows without control. You can adjust speed or use the sound sensitivity setting to trigger movement. It’s also worth mentioning CHAUVET DJ’s ‘totem’ mode. If you’re mounting overhead, you set the totem mode to ‘up’ and for surface or floor mounting you set it to ‘down’. This means that no matter how much they move, the lighting effects will always face forwards, rather than spinning around and pointing back at you or a wall.
If I’m being honest, on a fixture of this size, with this brightness and such a range of features, I struggle to see why you would use this as a standalone product with auto or sound shows. That said, I know some DJs don’t want to get into what can be the confusing world of DMX – and that’s where a new product that Pro Mobile is scheduled to review in the next issue comes in…
CHAUVET DJ have teased two new remote controls that will work with the Intimidator family: the RFC and RFC-XL. They’re both radio-frequency controls, so there’s no need to point them at the fixtures like with previous remotes. They allow for easy control of pan, tilt, colour and gobo, as well as providing access to freezing and automated programs, gobo rotation, prism and prism rotation, and loads more features to look out for in next issue’s review.
If you do use DMX, then you’re in safe hands thanks to the Intimidator Spot 375ZX’s 9- and 15-channel DMX modes. In December I used the spots at three different events on both the award-winning Wolfmix W1 controller and on my ADJ Link Desk. The profiles were easy to find or create and they worked flawlessly throughout.
The motorised focus and zoom (10° to 23°) meant I could project crisp gobos from a small bar through to a large conferencing suite or marquee. It also allowed for programming cool effects across the dancefloor, with the built-in 5-facet linear and 6-facet circular prisms delivering a different visual impact whilst filling a larger area. They always say less is more and it’s certainly the way I see not only my own show going, but also the shows of other DJs keen to stay on trend.
In summary, the CHAUVET DJ Intimidator Spot 375ZX is a compact moving head that’s designed for larger events and will be most useful to DJs and companies who cover a multitude of event sizes. The build quality is awesome, the look without the stickers is right up my street, and the fixture runs very quietly.
Of course, there is a whole family of Intimidators to explore. The range definitely offers a product for all types of DJ business, including the smaller 260X (reviewed by Ian Forest in issue 116) and the larger 475ZX. I would love to see these fixtures in white – already this year I’ve had two requests for an all-white show! But other than that, the 375ZX is a brilliant fixture that’s well suited to general parties but can also step up to more of a production environment.
Alex, CHAUVET DJ’s UK Marketing Specialist, suggested I take a closer look at the new features of the 375ZX, which I chose to run on my Wolfmix W1. But I also had a good look at the stand-alone features and built-in shows, which will also be controllable by an optional not-yet-released remote control. (You’ll need to wait until May for the full lowdown on that!)
Upon unboxing the Spot 375ZXs, I immediately fell in love with the new design of the main case, which is black with embossed ‘Intimidator’ branding. This looks much smarter than having brilliant-white text stickers splashed over the front of the fixture for all the audience to see – a huge improvement in my opinion.
Weighing in at 12.4kg (27.2lb), each unit features powerCON in and out (you can link up to four units at 120V or eight at 230V), 3-pin DMX in and out, and a full-colour LCD display (commonly found on CHAUVET DJ’s higher-end fixtures) with menu, up, down and enter buttons for controlling the settings.
For a moving head with so many features, it’s very compact, with an overall size of 322 x 220 x 466mm (12.7 x 8.7 x 18.3 inches). Two side handles make light work of hanging the fixture. When mounting, a bracket with four quick ¼-turn bolts allows for single- or dual-mounting options, and there’s a safety cable mounting point.
Light is provided by an insanely bright 200W cool-white LED and CHAUVET DJ have done an incredible job with the optics. Side by side, there was barely any difference between the Intimidator Spot 375ZXs and my current 260W LED movers, which shows that you shouldn’t take the listed brightness at face value. That said, the movers I mention are an older model and technology has moved on. For the techies out there, it’s all in the colour temperature: on this new fixture, kelvin was increased from 7,500k to 15,000k, resulting in vastly increased brightness. The light pans at 540°, 360°, 180° and on the tilt 270°, 180° and 90°– all programable from the built-in screen.
The single colour wheel provides you with seven colours, plus white, and allows for split colours and continuous scroll at variable speeds using updated Colour Temperature Orange (CTO) technology. Additionally, we get two rotating prisms (linear and circular) and a gobo wheel with seven gobos plus open.
The fixture is supplied with six metal gobos and one glass, all of which are rotating, interchangeable, indexing and slot-n-lock, with continuous scroll at variable speeds. The slot-n-lock feature is particularly useful when upselling bespoke gobos and can be changed within a minute – an easy way to generate additional income with limited effort or expense. For my weddings, I ordered some presentation boxes online and now I send the gobo to my client afterwards, along with a thank you note, whilst directing them to my review page. For corporate bookings, I keep them in my gobo library in case they come back and book again. I can then offer them the same gobo at a reduced cost (call it a storage fee!).
The standalone auto shows can be set to show with ‘slave’ heads in 1-, 2-, 3- or 4-mode to create shows without control. You can adjust speed or use the sound sensitivity setting to trigger movement. It’s also worth mentioning CHAUVET DJ’s ‘totem’ mode. If you’re mounting overhead, you set the totem mode to ‘up’ and for surface or floor mounting you set it to ‘down’. This means that no matter how much they move, the lighting effects will always face forwards, rather than spinning around and pointing back at you or a wall.
If I’m being honest, on a fixture of this size, with this brightness and such a range of features, I struggle to see why you would use this as a standalone product with auto or sound shows. That said, I know some DJs don’t want to get into what can be the confusing world of DMX – and that’s where a new product that Pro Mobile is scheduled to review in the next issue comes in…
CHAUVET DJ have teased two new remote controls that will work with the Intimidator family: the RFC and RFC-XL. They’re both radio-frequency controls, so there’s no need to point them at the fixtures like with previous remotes. They allow for easy control of pan, tilt, colour and gobo, as well as providing access to freezing and automated programs, gobo rotation, prism and prism rotation, and loads more features to look out for in next issue’s review.
If you do use DMX, then you’re in safe hands thanks to the Intimidator Spot 375ZX’s 9- and 15-channel DMX modes. In December I used the spots at three different events on both the award-winning Wolfmix W1 controller and on my ADJ Link Desk. The profiles were easy to find or create and they worked flawlessly throughout.
The motorised focus and zoom (10° to 23°) meant I could project crisp gobos from a small bar through to a large conferencing suite or marquee. It also allowed for programming cool effects across the dancefloor, with the built-in 5-facet linear and 6-facet circular prisms delivering a different visual impact whilst filling a larger area. They always say less is more and it’s certainly the way I see not only my own show going, but also the shows of other DJs keen to stay on trend.
In summary, the CHAUVET DJ Intimidator Spot 375ZX is a compact moving head that’s designed for larger events and will be most useful to DJs and companies who cover a multitude of event sizes. The build quality is awesome, the look without the stickers is right up my street, and the fixture runs very quietly.
Of course, there is a whole family of Intimidators to explore. The range definitely offers a product for all types of DJ business, including the smaller 260X (reviewed by Ian Forest in issue 116) and the larger 475ZX. I would love to see these fixtures in white – already this year I’ve had two requests for an all-white show! But other than that, the 375ZX is a brilliant fixture that’s well suited to general parties but can also step up to more of a production environment.
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 118, Pages 84-85.
