Led education frustration

[mseepman]

I would concur that Soundwave's write-up (the whole thing) is the best resource around. They are not trying to sell you anything, and it's huge so just about everything you could want to know is in there.

I have built a large DIY fixture and that link has been the premise for the entire build. There is a sub-link within it under "thefishman65" which summarizes the thread and suggested options.
I personally would avoid the knock off LED's as for every good story, there is a bad one to match. ie: steve's, no name...