At the PLASA Awards 2014, the judges said: “The Mythos hybrid automated light works as a hard-edge spot, a beam light, or a wash light with a range of effects. It has excellent colours, incredible brightness, terrific optics, and a small housing. It's also very energy efficient and it has a patented and innovative cooling system. In the Clay Paky tradition, it's a real winner."
Since those auspicious words in October, Ambersphere Solutions have been busy fulfilling orders and shipping Mythos units to numerous clients across the UK. Its hybrid versatility and wide range of effects has attracted the attention of lighting companies and designers alike. Ambersphere’s Sales Director,
Phil Norfolk elaborates on the market reaction to this latest Clay Paky unit: “The interest in Mythos is incredible. It’s such a versatile fixture. Rental companies recognise the potential, replacing spots and beam fixtures for corporate, theatre, TV and touring productions. It’s so small, light and powerful, with just the right feature set to make it really useful. We are now delivering large quantities every month into the UK and our order book just keeps growing. The feedback from the users has been quite astonishing; this could be the new bench mark for high efficiency fixtures.”

White Light made the decision to invest in the Mythos as a strategic investment as Hire & Technical Director, Dave Isherwood explains, “We own a number of different types of moving light fixtures from different manufacturers but we felt that an investment in the Clay Paky Mythos was an intelligent and pro-active move. As a rental company, we always strive to offer our customers the very latest and best in technical development, particularly lights that we are confident will provide new solutions in lighting design. The Mythos is already being specified in theatre and concert touring designs and we believe they will have a broad appeal across many sectors of the industry. Add to that the consistently attentive support that Ambersphere always provides and the decision to invest in the Mythos was something of any easy choice. We are hoping to add to our current stock very soon.”

Bruce Rutter of Lightsmiths who supplies a diverse list of clients, from corporate events to theatre shows as well as supplying to some of the larger rental companies, is unashamedly enthusiastic about the Mythos. “In my opinion, the Mythos is the most exciting fixture to appear in the last ten years. For us, they are just perfect: compact, really, really bright and just does everything you could wish for plus much that you probably haven’t even imagined yet! Some of our fixtures went straight out to light the Clifton Suspension Bridge on New Year’s Eve – the results are truly spectacular.”

Lightsmiths has a long history with Ambersphere – the company were among the first to purchase the A.leda fixture and the boss has since had no reason to alter his allegiance. “‘You can cut corners by trying to buy second hand or cheap versions but in my mind it is a false economy – stick with the best and have the support from Ambersphere – and it pays dividends. Everything works all the time.”

Impact Production Services combine sub-hire rental with their own full production service and boast a substantial amount of Clay Paky units in the inventory as MD, James Mason comments, “We have done a lot of business with Ambersphere over the last couple of years, the friendly and very technically aware Ambersphere team have made choosing Clay Paky units an even easier choice, and with service and parts available half an hour down the road, the partnership offers a huge advantage for us – especially with the fast paced nature of our business. We chose the Mythos fixtures to add a more powerful profile fixture to our rental range,” continues Mason, “and with the versatility of the units, they seem set to be a popular choice. Alongside the Sharpy, the Sharpy Wash and A.leda K20 B-Eye, the Mythos continues to broaden the options we can offer our customers. Our Mythos delivery went straight out on a corporate job and have since been on a film premiere in Leicester Square, on one of our own productions and out on sub-hire – and we’ve barely had them a month.”

Dry Hire Lighting (DHL) specialise in supplying to industry lighting companies, filling the inevitable stock gaps that busy rental companies are prone to as Rob Merrilees says: “Our purchases are driven by demand and shortfalls from our lighting company clients. As such, we are constantly updating our warehouse stock with an eye on what is going to be in demand and appear on lighting designers’ specification lists. We opted to invest in the Mythos as we are sure this will be a very popular luminaire and demand will be high – it is such an exciting new fixture in the Clay Paky tradition of innovation. We already hold a large stock of Clay Paky fixtures and have a very good relationship with Ambersphere; our purchasing with them is ongoing and the service and attention we receive is second to none.”

In an industry so dependent on a successful recipe that mixes technical innovation with individualised and high quality customer service, the partnership of Clay Paky and Ambersphere Solutions continues to be the premier choice on the menu for lighting companies across the UK. The Mythos looks set to exceed even the PLASA judges’ expectations in 2015.