Both are nice, that's a hard choice, you will probably find more reviews on the handiquilter sweet 16 sitdown , they have only been making them for babylock for a few years, but they are the same machine. I haven't tried it. Are they not giving you good trade in value on the espire because there should be a decent price difference for the crescendo and the tiara. It should actually be cheaper to do the crescendo. I have the brother version of the combo and love the features on it. I like it a lot more than my espire I had previously. I love the space on the tiara but you are giving up the pen, laser, muvit foot. I love these features and use them like crazy for my quilt making. If it were me I would get the crescendo and save for the tiara