My sewing machine person said that the factory manufactures both machines. She likened it to the machines being on a conveyor belt and going left for Brother tagging and right for BL tagging. I ended up with the BL crescendo, which I LOVE. Initially I was going to trade in an older machine, but they wouldn't give me much for it, so I basically had the woman go to the manager to see what they could do for me. Once I was told, I didn't think it was good enough, so I just walked away (I mean, I didn't HAVE to have the machine). The salesperson called me about 20 minutes after I got home with a better offer. It's so aggravating though!! Why can't they just give you the best price to begin with?!?!