Crestron's Adagio Line Gets Two More Systems
By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 9/3/2007
DENVER — Crestron is expanding its series of Adagio multiroom audio systems to three models from one during CEDIA Expo by adding two models with home theater and video capability.
The Adagio series consists of a single-chassis multiroom-audio brain, which looks like a stereo receiver, combined with plug-and-play in-wall controllers and such plug-and-play Crestron sources as the Adagio Music Server and iPod dock. The initial Adagio model launched last year drives a multiroom audio system and incorporates plug-in tuner cards, multiple amplifier channels, audio-source switching and ability to control other home systems.
The new $9,000-suggested Adagio AMS (Adagio Media System) does all that and doubles as a home theater amplifier/processor incorporating decoders for all mandatory and optional surround-sound formats authorized on Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, a spokesman said. AMS incorporates 7x100-watt amplifier section to drive a home theater and an 8x40-watt amplifier section dedicated to drive four audio zones in stereo. A fifth remote zone can be driven in stereo by assigning two surround-channel amps for multiroom duty. Each zone has independent volume, bass, treble, source-selection, and source-control functions through Crestron's in-wall keypads and touchscreens. An optional Expander adds six more stereo audio zones.
AMS also features 10 stereo inputs and 7.1-channel analog inputs, as well as home-theater switching of video sources via HDMI, component, composite and S-video inputs.
The $11,000 AMS-AIP offers all these functions plus 1080p up-scaling, DVI connections, simultaneous display of two video sources, and advanced onscreen display allowing for translucent menu overlay over a video program playing on a TV.
All three Adagio models feature Audyssey MultEQ room correction and choice of three dual-tuner cars: one with dual AM/FM tuners, one with XM and AM/FM tuners and a third with Sirius and AM/FM tuners.
For distributing cable and satellite signals throughout the house, the company is unveiling what it believes is an industry first. The Media Manifold enables installers to automatically and independently set the gain and tilt of a video signal in each of up to 12 rooms to maximize video performance in each room. The Manifold takes a cable signal in at a central location and distributes it to up to 12 rooms via independent cable runs. At each room's cable outlet, the installer plugs in a companion handheld device to measure the length of the cable run and set the gain and tilt at the press of one button.
That compares to the common method of adding splitters and amplifiers to a cable run and manually tweaking the amplifiers to deliver a signal that's averaged out over multiple rooms, compromising video performance, the company said.
Pricing wasn't available at press time.
