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Affordable way to get into Lectrosonics?


Aragorn

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Personally, I  would pass on the 401,  since they do not have a tracking front end. In today's crowded RF spectrum, I think it is pretty much necessary.  I have seen some UCR411 receivers for around $850 on eBay and elsewhere, but then with a body pack and/or plug-on transmitter to go with it, you're of course looking at more than $700 per channel...

On the lower end of Lectros, see if you can find UCR100/UM100 sets. Sometimes also come up in eBay for very  little $. Then of course, there's no scanning function/display, and 100-series is a different animal altogether.

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Perhaps 411 receivers paired with LMa or LMb transmitters. All used, and all in appropriate blocks for your location. 

 

What do others here think about even older 211 receivers and 200c transmitters for Aragon? Mine still work (not that I break them out very often), but then I bought them a long time ago. Rather ancient tech; worth buying today if you're on a budget? 

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Thanks, I will take a look at those. So will 401 and 411 be better than things like Sennheiser AVX or G4? 

 

Lectrosonics keep literature explaining their product line away from public and only explain it to actual customers over other phone tech support, don't they? I was unable to find any info explaining their products... 

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12 minutes ago, Aragorn said:

Thanks, I will take a look at those. So will 401 and 411 be better than things like Sennheiser AVX or G4? 

 

Lectrosonics keep literature explaining their product line away from public and only explain it to actual customers over other phone tech support, don't they? I was unable to find any ib for explaining their products... 

What do you want to know? The current product lineup including full manuals are available on their web site. Though you will not find any manual stating which specific product is better than another brand specific product.

Generally, Lectrosonics are set in the professional range, and about equivalent to other systems at this price point. All those systems perform better sounding, more reliable, more flexible or any combination of those than cheaper systems.

 

I don’t think you will be too happy buying the cheapest Transmitter that has Lectrosonics printed on it. Especially their older systems have a very small tuning range, which can and will lead to problems with the crowded RF environments today. So if you want to get into older systems, consider the frequency range and check which blocks are usable in your area. 

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1 hour ago, Aragorn said:

Thanks, I will take a look at those. So will 401 and 411 be better than things like Sennheiser AVX or G4? 

 

Lectrosonics keep literature explaining their product line away from public and only explain it to actual customers over other phone tech support, don't they? I was unable to find any info explaining their products... 

 

I like Johnny's reasoning for possibly avoiding 410 systems.

 

And Lectrosonics, like most companies in our small space, tend to be really good at making their product information available, even for products they no longer sell. Here are some pages to start exploring:

 

Quick Start Guides (back to 400 series, at least; not sure if 200-series stuff is on this page):

https://www.lectrosonics.com/support/manuals-data-sheets/quick-start-guide.html?start=0

 

Legacy products manuals (since the systems we're talking about are no longer made...IIRC):

https://www.lectrosonics.com/support/manuals-data-sheets/legacy-products.html

 

Or just search for the model numbers (e.g., LMa, 411). Yes, you'll have to know the model numbers but those are all easy to discover. But as a few of us have said, finding frequency ranges that work for the locations where you want to use the wireless is SUPER DUPER important these days. Search here and you should be able to find recent local first-hand knowledge. Or ask. 

 

But let's roll back a bit. So you have or are considering the Sennheiser AVX? What are you looking for beyond what those offer? Better sound quality? More resistance to interference? More range? A "normal" works-in-a-bag receiver?

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2 hours ago, Jim Feeley said:

So you have or are considering the Sennheiser AVX? What are you looking for beyond what those offer? Better sound quality? More resistance to interference? More range? A "normal" works-in-a-bag receiver?

Better resistance to interference while maintaining small size and being lightweight for "in-the-bag" use. 

 

Thanks for the rest of the information. 

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4 hours ago, Aragorn said:

Thanks, I will take a look at those. So will 401 and 411 be better than things like Sennheiser AVX or G4? 

Much better. And I'd even take Lectro 200 series over a Sennheiser AVX or EW100 G4


You're in New York? Not an easy environment, buy narrow band for now as you're scrounging for pennies but get wideband soon when you can swing it. 

 

4 hours ago, Aragorn said:

Lectrosonics keep literature explaining their product line away from public and only explain it to actual customers over other phone tech support, don't they? I was unable to find any info explaining their products... 


Just google it! Even from years ago, you can find manuals for their older products. Very helpful. 
Likewise google searches for jwsound or RAMPS can bring up further enlightening discussions, I spent dozens (hundreds? ha) of hours doing that over the years when deciding what gear to get. 

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9 hours ago, Aragorn said:

Thanks, I will take a look at those. So will 401 and 411 be better than things like Sennheiser AVX or G4? 

 

As the others here say: way better.

 

But - it depends theoretically. I have measured around a lot, some time ago with the AVX system and found out that it's able to transmit 20Hz-20kHz without any audible artifacts and high dynamics. It tested a lot, also with "difficult" sounds. The only thing it can't transmit properly is Tone haha.

It works rock solid over a short distance. So a very good basic principle, soundwise theoretically vastly superior to any analogue system. But Sennheiser made the mistake to never having developed a generation 2 AVX - there are neither professional transmitters (better inputs, variable input level, LCF) nor a plug on transmitter nor (bigger) pro receivers nor a handheld transmitter which can handle condenser capsules.

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Thanks to everyone here for very helpful answers! I'll be aiming at 411/UM400a for now.

 

How much does it generally cost to reblock (an old) system by Lectrosonics or anyone else in case if I the recommend block is overcrowded? Can they be reblocked to ANY Lectros block or there's a limitation to that? 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Aragorn said:

Thanks to everyone here for very helpful answers! I'll be aiming at 411/UM400a for now.

 

How much does it generally cost to reblock (an old) system by Lectrosonics or anyone else in case if I the recommend block is overcrowded? Can they be reblocked to ANY Lectros block or there's a limitation to that? 

 

 

The cost depends on the unit/s involved - usually it requires replacing the RF board in the transmitter and receiver. It is usually about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of buying them new. Not all older models can still be re-blocked. Please reach out to our service dept. at service.repair@lectrosonics.com with specific questions, and they'll give you exact quotes by model and let you know if the models you're asking about can be re-blocked. 

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11 hours ago, Trey LaCroix said:

I started with 4 used 411s and 4 used UM400a s. They are still rock solid and never let me down. Sound and perform just as good as my SMs.

 

I would highly recommend them over the AVX, G3/G4, UWP etc and probably won’t cost you that much more.

 

Are they also better in terms of RF interference handling as well, or just sound/built quality ? 

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