What were the primary goals when developing the VL2600 SE Series?
“The continual replacement of fixtures that we often see by others in the industry has a significant negative impact on sustainability – both environmentally and economically. The need to constantly swap fixtures with minor, iterative replacements lead to unnecessary cost for rental houses, as well as a large amount of waste that harms the planet, we all live in. With the VL2600 SE Series, we wanted to leverage the latest technology advancements and offer our customers more output without undue impact on their business or the environment. Existing fixtures can be upgraded, the parts and pieces of the fixtures remain the same, and they operate in the same way designers are already familiar with. They’re just a heck of a lot brighter.”
Can you elaborate on the process of upgrading from the existing VL2600 Series fixtures to the SE version?
“It’s quite easy to upgrade a VL2600 fixture to the new SE Series engine. There are six screws to remove and mount the assembly, along with a couple of wiring connections. Any trained service technician should be able to do it. We have instructions and a training video to make it even easier.”
What specific feedback or requests influenced the design and feature set of the VL2600 SE Profile and Wash fixtures?
“The feedback we get from the industry is that everyone is tired of the ‘flash and trash’ philosophy of iterative product upgrades. Customers want good, all-around workhorse products they can rely on for years. That’s been a core part of Vari-Lite’s DNA for decades. The VL2600 SE Series is the best workhorse on the market, and it now offers best-in-class output. It has a well-rounded feature set, a broad colour palette, and an excellent quality of light. It’s the reliable tool that LDs can trust in any design.”
Which features set the VL2600 SE Series apart from other lighting fixtures?
“The VL2600 SE Series is, at its core, a well-rounded fixture with great light quality and a broad range of colours. That’s why we call it a workhorse fixture. It’s a consistently and reliably high-quality luminaire that achieves most anything you ask of it. It’s not some special effect fixture that looks cool on a single production and then falls out of favour. It does the heavy lifting in the design, which is why the VL2600 is such a highly specified fixture. Designers trust the VL2600 Series because it has a track record of reliability, and the fixtures are available to rent on every continent on the planet. The SE Series just builds on that, with the goal of giving the fixture a 10-year life cycle at minimum.”
How does VL2600 SE Series align with Vari-Lite’s commitment to environmentally friendly lighting solutions?
“Vari-Lite is part of our parent company Signify’s Brighter Lives, Better World programme with an aim to double our circular revenues company-wide by 2025. With luminaries like the VL2600 SE Series that last longer and offer higher output at lower wattage, we extend the product life cycle. This ensures our users get new features without the waste.”
