I recently refurbished my Beseler 45MCRX enlarger and went back to using condensers instead of the Zone vi cold light. I tried printing the other night and hated my experience.... I mean control wise. I know this isnt very scientific but its what i offer from observation using the tools I have.

Im a bit confused about light sources. The standard bulb in the condenser head was an opal bulb marked /211 125V 75Watts. I read the color temp of this bulb with a Gossen Sixticolor meter, it read 2800K. And for a 75W bulb, it sure doesnt seem very bright, it looked more like a 40Watt.

My Zone VI Cold light head read an astonishing 7800K. I have no idea what the wattage is, but it seems to my eye the same as a 60W bulb.

Im switching to LED bulbs and thought since the regular 211 bulb said 75watts Id use a 60W LED bulbs. I got a few different color temps so I can choose the one that gave the best control.

Soft White LED 2800K 60W
Bright white LED 3000K 60W
Daylight LED 4500K 60watt.

I did see a bulb rated at 5000K which I will get tomorrow to try.

I ran some VC filter tests using Ilford FB MGIV, I was very disappointing how muddy they were with the 4 (incl the 211) different bulbs.

Am I spoiled by the cold light or am I missing something here?
frustrated, I just may put the cold light back up.