I am not sure any of the above is accurate. Adagio is less expensive then a full blown Crestron system and not particularly more expensive then a C4 system, device for device. Nonetheless, the is much about C4 that allows it to be successful at the lower price points. In many ways it's good value but not great value.

Is there anything like Digital Media from C4? You have no where near the number of items in the SKU and that can be seen as both strength and a weakness. The coming TPMC3x is rather cool. But cool only goes so far. Ultimately, price points matter and so does one's dealer base. Crestron sees lots of dealers out there who might not be able to suppot a full blown system but could do quite well doing the basic systems. Should they cede the market to other manufacturers, particularly in this economy?

Not many manufacturers have their on FCC test facility in house. It may not be profitable but it does allow them to get devices to market quicker then most competitors. They have their own UL test bench. This is more common but you know C4 doesn't. What Crestron seems to be doing, an EJ's aluded to it, is to allow existing dealers to play at lower priced systems and to attract dealers to its bannor who might have sold Niles, Speakercraft, C4, Vaux or other entry line. It is easily programmed so you don't need expensive programmers.

But they also don't wish to canibalize existing sales. They did this successfully with the Adagio, though I know too many dealers who could not tell what was what or when to up or down-sell.

Put an other way, there is very little that is new. Savant has cool grahpics. C4 has a low entry point. Crestron is rock solid and offers solid products that work and who typically provice good solutions to common installer issues. The PVID is a brilliant soluton, as was QuickMedia. Their surround processors were better than decent and in many ways competed with systems much more expensive. Everyone likes to brag about their team. You sign on to Crestron you praise Crestron. You become a C4 dealer, you become a c4 fanboy. It's inevitable and predictable, with the requisite exagerations that fanatics bring to the table. But to suggest that Crestron has done no innovating over the last few years whereas C4 has is to distort the picture just a tad.

Alan