Well, I'm not sure exactl what the lighting element is exactly, if it's a single LED or a reflector/combiner system to make one coherent beam. It could be a space issue as well.
I think their decision was in part "bang for the buck", but probably also was an engineering thing.
But, let's say it's a single element, using multiple elements going through a gobo is not going to produce a unified beam of light without some sort of lighting wave guide reflectors/deflectors to wrangle those beams intoone single coherent beam. And as LED technology is by nature more expensice, each additional LED unit adds a lot of cost, coupled with the other technologies required to produce the desired final output results.
Another issue is with LED compared to incadescent/halogen technologies, it's not an "apple to apples" comparison. A 30-watt 64 LED Pro puts out an equivalent of a gelled incandecent 500-watt Par 64, or at least seems to be in my eyes as a sound man. I certainly understand what you're implying an going for.
Using a single 20-watt LED element is much more efficient than using whatever amount of LED's used in say the 64 LED Pros, which must be split among different colored LEDs. of course, this works fine for a wash fixture.
In front of that 20-watt element is a color wheel. This is again more efficient than color mixing with multiple LED's although it's done at a cost of less color selection, but is also more comaptible with gobos. Give and take, at least for now.
I also think that with price numbers you are talkng, that would seem like perhaps it may be time to look to the Elation line for solutions, where perhaps this has all bee addressed. I'm not familiar with the Elation line. Elation might be also offering higher wattage LED solutions as well.
I also think that ADJ wants to go with "LED means smaller" at least as far as physical size of fixture is concerned. The Par-type lights are smaller/shorter than their incadenscent/halogen counterparts. The XMove is small. Other fixtures seem to have recycled the old case, such as the LED Reflex.
I think we're still in the first generation of LED offerings from the lighting companies. I think in the next 3-5 years, as we enter a true second generation, we're gonna see a lot of great LED offerings coming down the pipe at us, the end users.
LED technology is starting to gain acceptance in touring. Radiohead has chosen to go all LED for their tour. With this being a viable option, this is really going to lead the way towards bigger and more powerful LED technology being made affordable for people like us who don't have big dollars or corporate sponsors and backing.
It's a wait and see thing for now.
Thanks for the info on the LED Reflex. But, since the existing Reflex is not exactly high draw, I'm not terribly concerned about replacing that one yet, but good to know how brihgt those are.
I want to see ADJ just re-fit their fixtures like the Sunray III, Mystic and Vertigo with an LED unit or units, in addition to DMX. They aren't quite there in my opinion yet. Close but the current offerings leave me a bit cold.