Albertporter -- also a lighting guru -- is there no end to your expertise!
Here is a question that has baffled countless lighting "experts" in NYC and London:
I love the look of what I am pretty sure are low voltage halogen spots, that look more "soft" than "hot" and the bulb is a wide diameter (6"?)fixture that reminds me of a huge flashlight or a dentist's lamp.
The nifty thing about these fixtures is that they cast a very directional spot where the lit object appears brilliantly illuminated but the rest of the room remains dark and there is no glare from the side of the fixture. Just a guess, but I think you could get a 12-24" beam from at least 20 or so feet away.
I first noticed fixtures like this in the Metropolitan Museum's antiquities gallery -- it is very dramatic lighting. And I have later noticed that it is occasionally used in restaurants where the room is dimmed but the beam is on a flower on the table, for example.
Every time I request this, however, I am usually shown the tiny (2"?) halogen bulbs -- typically seen in every lighting shop -- with the iridescent, rainbow purpley, color on the outside of the bulb and otherwise given dull blank stares by the "experts".
Maybe you know these more common fixtures and have gotten them to look good, but by comparison to me, they look very "hot", they leak an aggressive glare around the edges, the beam is not nearly as narrow or directional and they can just look a bit nasty.
Any idea what I am talking about or which supplier might have the museum bulb?
I think shining one on a Rockport turntable on a pedestal, or perhaps a ML 30 and 31 stacked combo in an otherwise darkened listening room might increase my happiness and listening pleasure.
Thanks.
Here is a question that has baffled countless lighting "experts" in NYC and London:
I love the look of what I am pretty sure are low voltage halogen spots, that look more "soft" than "hot" and the bulb is a wide diameter (6"?)fixture that reminds me of a huge flashlight or a dentist's lamp.
The nifty thing about these fixtures is that they cast a very directional spot where the lit object appears brilliantly illuminated but the rest of the room remains dark and there is no glare from the side of the fixture. Just a guess, but I think you could get a 12-24" beam from at least 20 or so feet away.
I first noticed fixtures like this in the Metropolitan Museum's antiquities gallery -- it is very dramatic lighting. And I have later noticed that it is occasionally used in restaurants where the room is dimmed but the beam is on a flower on the table, for example.
Every time I request this, however, I am usually shown the tiny (2"?) halogen bulbs -- typically seen in every lighting shop -- with the iridescent, rainbow purpley, color on the outside of the bulb and otherwise given dull blank stares by the "experts".
Maybe you know these more common fixtures and have gotten them to look good, but by comparison to me, they look very "hot", they leak an aggressive glare around the edges, the beam is not nearly as narrow or directional and they can just look a bit nasty.
Any idea what I am talking about or which supplier might have the museum bulb?
I think shining one on a Rockport turntable on a pedestal, or perhaps a ML 30 and 31 stacked combo in an otherwise darkened listening room might increase my happiness and listening pleasure.
Thanks.