Heidelberg Speedmaster vs KBA Rapida 105-8 SW4PWVA

Dear ColorPrintingForum,

I am the publisher of a large format luxury, fashion, art, lifestyle magazine. We printed our first issue with great success in the states on a Man Roland offset printing machine. The quality was exceptional however the price of printing in the states led me to look into printing in Croatia where my family is from. Since we are a large format art publication - in line with a Tashen coffee-table style book - quality is of utmost important to us. We are very new to the publishing world and therefore lack the knowledge and experience in knowing the differences in offset printing machines. We have narrowed our search down to two printers located in Croatia - both have the expertise and experience in printing the type of product we are producing however both use different machines. One printer uses the KBA Rapida 105-8 SW4PWVA and the other uses a Heidelberg Speedmaster, which seems to be more quality standard here. Since our magazine is 95% photography and very visual it's important that we have a good range of colors and depth. Can anyone give us an overview and opinion of the differences between these two printers? We plan on being on press and overseeing the quality to push the limits to get the best possible quality but I am sure there are slight differences in what these machines can produce as a final product. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

Don't know much about the KBS but a Speedmaster is more than capable of printing the quality you desire?

 

Thanks for your response. What I realized that I failed to mention is that the Speedmaster printer cannot provide the size requirements we are looking for to match our first issue. There would be a slight difference (about 1/2 inch all around) in size -- quality is more important for us than size. Therefore, if the KBA printer is inferior in quality to the Speedmaster we would compromise on the size but if the KBA is comparable we would rather keep consistency of size.

 

What is your final book size?

You know there are different size Speedmasters around, just of the top of my head, the XL 105, is quite large, 750 x 1,050 mm (29.53 x 41.34 in)

 

The size of our book is 11.75 in x 16.5 in. It could be that they just don't have that size Speedmaster. They told us the largest size they can produce is 292 x 410 mm (11.50 x 16.14 in). Not sure why? It's a slight difference in size we can live with if the quality is that much better to justify the change in size. The problem is finding a printer here in Zagreb that has enough experience with the quality product we want. We're looking for a long term relationship. The printers with the KBA seem qualified but I don't know that printer and was looking for any opinions that might.

 

I just found out that the printer uses the Heidelberg, SM-CD-102, year of production 2010.
Finsihing will be made at Muller Martini Accoro, PUR soft cover binding machine, year of production 2010.

Do you the max size this Heidelberg prints?

 

I think it's 720x1020mm?

 

Maybe it's then the binding machine that can't handle this size??

 

Possibly but I'm sure there are other binderies in the Zagreb area that can handle that size, for sure your book size can be printed on that Speedmaster no problem, maybe not so many pages on one sheet as you would like but if it's only a small run, which books normally are, then it doesn't matter?

What is your run quantity?

 

5000

 

im sure that both presses are capable of delivering the highest in quality. Often it comes down to the guy pushing the buttons. Even with all the modern technology and best press in the world the final product will be just as greatly influenced by the man behind the console. The type of job you are talking about will require a bit of finesse to get good results. Time is money. So is a good sheet of paper. Don't try to save 3 dollars by buying poor quality paper. This is not the place to save money.

 

Hi AS IF

We are printing factory from Macedonia and from experience we have i can tell you that from Heidelberg you can get best quality (we work on CD 102 LX) especially if it is new generation 2010 as you mention above. Can you tell me the names of printing factories maybe i can give you some info about them because i know couple of them we are close and if they are bigger we know what they are work.

 

There are also larger Heidelberg Speedmaster presses ( than the 102 ) that you might want to look into.