Archives for September 2006

Crestron’s Adagio Entertainment System With New AMS Processor Wins Awards at CEDIA

Crestron’s Adagio Entertainment System (AES), an integrated audio distribution system for multiroom and whole-house audio installations, has been awarded CEDIA’s Electronic Lifestyles Award as one of the year’s 5 top new products.

At the CEDIA show, held earlier this month in Denver, CO, Crestron introduced the newest addition to the Adagio line, the Adagio Media System (AMS). AMS is a processor/controller that adds sophisticated surround sound processing and video for home theater, alongside complete whole house audio distribution. The AMS-AIP model goes a step further, to provide professional-quality video scaling up to 1080p and on-screen display.

Crestron's new AMS controller/processor brings home theater surround sound processing and pro-quality video scaling to the multi-room Adagio Entertainment System (AES) line.

Crestron describes Adagio Entertainment System as the first fully-integrated audio distribution system with plug-and-play connectivity. System components already available include Adagio Audio Expander (AAE), Adagio Audio Server (AAS), CEN-IDOC iPod® interface, 12-button keypads and APAD LCD room controllers. Adagio is the only audio distribution system that provides seamless expansion to whole house automation including lighting, HVAC and shade control.

Along with the prestigious top-5 product recognition, Crestron won three Excite Awards at this year’s CEDIA show. Adagio was honored as the “Most Exciting Product,” and Crestron was named “Most Exciting Home Automation System.”

The new AMS component features Adagio’s signature integrated architecture including built-in tuners, amplifier, multi-room processors, Crestron 2-Series control system, e-Control web browser, Ethernet connectivity and front panel control.

It also offers the plug-and-play connectivity, out-of-the-box functionality, and seamless expansion options that makes Adagio the easiest home entertainment system to install and the most versatile to expand.

The AMS features a state-of-the-art surround sound processor and powerful 100w 7-channel amplifier designed to drive any 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 theater speaker system. DTS 96/24 decoding achieves superlative sound quality from the latest generation of DVD titles. Audyssey MultEQ equalization corrects time and frequency response problems, effectively removing sound distortion at every listening position, to create the optimum listening experience.

The AMS accommodates a full range of audio and video sources. It has 10 analog stereo inputs, and one analog 7.1 surround input. Built-in high-definition video switching handles 3 HDMI, 6 HDTV/component, 4 S-Video, and 4 composite sources.

AMS also includes stereo audio distribution to support 4 to 6 rooms. The integrated multi-room amplifier delivers a robust 45 watts per channel to each of 4 rooms, while a fifth stereo room or up to 2 mono rooms can be supported using one or two of the surround amplifier channels. Each room includes independent volume, bass, and treble controls. The AMS may be expanded to accommodate additional rooms simply via Adagio Audio Expanders (AAE).

The enhanced AMS-AIP model adds the latest generation high-definition scaling and de-interlacing. True 10-bit video processing in the AIP supports displays with resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 and HDMI, DVI, RGB, or component connectivity. AMS-AIP also offers DVI for connecting multimedia computers and a wide range of professional video source components. With PIP and PBP, the AMS-AIP enables dual video source display or video and graphics, simultaneously.

The AMS front panel with backlit LCD display provides a powerful, yet simple user-interface for system set-up, or to control a home theater or distributed whole house AV system. Plug-and-play connectivity with Crestron 12-button keypads or the advanced APAD Wall Mount LCD Controller enables versatile control of the AMS in every room. The APAD extends the many functions of the AMS front panel to each room, providing true feedback display of audio sources, CD titles, artists, and songs, plus audio settings and many other parameters. The optional TPMC-4X Handheld WiFi Touchpanel provides an enhanced user interface to control the AMS home entertainment system. Out of the box, the TPMC-4X includes numerous control screens for setting up and controlling the AMS, AAS and Apple® iPod®.

Plug-and-play compatibility with Crestron’s Adagio Audio Server (AAS), CEN-IDOC iPod® interface, and plug-in dual-tuner cards for AM/FM, XM and Sirius delivers instant access to additional music sources and entire libraries of music from any room in the house with full capability for browsing by album, artist, and song title.

At the heart of the AMS is the powerful 2-Series control engine featuring both Cresnet and Ethernet connectivity. The AMS allows nearly limitless expansion and customization using Crestron’s entire line of products such as touchpanels, infiNET™ dimmers and thermostats. The built-in Web server with native e-Control®2 XPanel support enables remote control over IP.

Crestron Website