09.08.2009 — Savant Systems, best known for its uber-high-end Mac-based Rosie control system, is coming out with a more mainstream product: Protégé.

The unit is a 4-source, 8-zone multiroom audio system with an integrated iTunes server and bundled with four iPhone/iPod licenses. All this for just $5,000.

With that, you get all of the usual features of Savant's Rosie products, including the familiar RacePoint BluePrint programming environment, integration with third-party control systems, and the vast array of user interfaces offered by Savant.

The iTunes server, by the way, is a high-quality digital audio storage and music management system that provides instant access to entire music collections from any Savant user interface. Users can play up to eight independent audio sources simultaneously.

For integration, Protégé includes Ethernet connectivity, 8 two-way serial ports, 6 IR outputs, 4 relays and 7 general purpose I/Os.

So not only do you have a full-blown whole-house music system, you also can control a home theater, lighting, motorized shades, and a number of other subsystems.

"We were just ultra high-end," says Savant CEO Jim Carroll. "Dealers have been clamoring for something in this space, where they can sell a lower-priced system that gets their foot in the door."

For standard multiroom audio, some Savant dealers have been installing systems from the usual suspects. Others, says Carroll, have had no inclination to go there.

With Protégé, however, they can offer clients a rich home automation and A/V ecosystem, in which they can start with audio distribution and expand from there.

Protégé is programmed with RacePoint Blueprint, just like Savant's other systems, "so all technicians, sales guys and designers are still speaking a common language," Carroll says.

Protégé "really fills a void" in the Savant line, according to Carroll.

Currently, the company offers pricey card-based systems, starting with the System 2 (two card slots) for $12,000 and System 12 for $20,000 and then all the way up to the System 36.

Savant filled the gap somewhat with its System 12 SE (Single Edition), which is offered at the "very very aggressive price point" of $6,000. That unit has the flexibility of mix-and-match audio/video via the 12 card slots, but it is not scalable.

Plus, the $6k is just for the chassis. You still have to pay to add the A/V input/output cards.

Protege, on the other hand, "is a complete system," Carroll says. "And you can add other Savant assets to it."

Savant will demonstrate Protégé at CEDIA Expo 2009 (booth 327).

Check out all of Savant's new CEDIA Products in this slideshow


Savant Protege includes everything needed for a whole-house music system that distributes four sources to eight zones