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It all depends on what and how many lights you currently have, what lights you plan on buying in the next few years, and how much money you want to spend. You could spend as little as $300 for a very basic controller or over $5000 for a decent board with lots of memory and scenes..

There was a really good thread on this right here, not too long ago. It might give you some ideas as to where to start:

https://www.schooltheatre.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?GroupId=133&MID=18880&CommunityKey=35d3756e-031c-447e-a020-14aeb57718f1&tab=digestviewer#bm0

There are many factors to consider:

How many dimmers do you have, and what type of control do those dimmers require?

Your console purchase is for the long term, where do you see your program going in the next 20 years, staying the same, adding LED fixtures or intelligent lighting?

You may have to consider your budget, there are small consoles, lighting software programs and hardware, consoles without buttons and sliders and full lighting consoles.

Also are you just wanting a console to operate, or are you using it as a learning tool for the students to assist them when moving on to Colleges and Universities?

Based on these needs you have a range of $ 1,500.00 to over $10,000

Thanks, guys, for all of your suggestions! I have a LOT of research to do!