You really should get with one of your suppliers and try them out in different situations and different types of carpet.
Agitation goes back as far as carpet cleaning has existed. Most manufacturers will put it in print they do not want rotary machines on their carpets and it could void the warranty. This is with good reason for most rotaries, especially the rotary extractors. Still many use them and love/hate them. To each their own. I owned and used them and just never cared for them, with good reason.
When it comes to CRB's they are a great tool and versatile. I used them from the late 90's until 2016 (almost) until I quit cleaning carpets. After I started using them, I would never have cleaned a carpet without one again. Still, I used them a little differently than most.
As for the ultimate machine to actually 'agitate' the carpet, get the best type of agitation and not distort or damage the construction of the carpet, there is nothing (as of yet) that works like a Cimex Machine using nylon brushes. I know many will say something about the weight and means of carrying one with them but all one has to do is get a 15" Cimex and that situation and problem is solved. I used a 19" machine my first 12 years in business and I used a 15" for the next 29 years and it works amazingly well in residential as well as commercial. No, I am not talking about Encapping with it (although it does that better than anything else out there for that as well) I am talking about agitation, the distribution of one's pre-spray or whatever chemical they use for soil suspension.
One of the greatest points of a Cimex, besides it is the only machine with the action to agitate the entire fiber, is it also will go over uneven areas without a problem, it has no torque to it so it does not damage weak seams nor does it damage weak areas of a carpet that has delam problems (rotaries can do a lot of damage here, especially rotary extractors). Try to run any rotary (except the Cimex) over the edge of a carpet along a metal transition or over the edge of an area rug or to even try to scrub the fringe of an area rug. The Cimex will do all of this without a problem, no other rotary will, if you are not sure, try it first before you argue something you may not know about.
Here are a couple of videos that show the use of a CRB and a Cimex as well as small area rugs and going over the edges. Hopefully this will help in your pursuit of either the best agitation means you could have or whatever may work for you with whatever you are trying to accomplish.
Also, in the first video, when you get to about the 4 min mark, see if any of your agitation choices with do what the Cimex does with not only the small area rug and agitating over the edges but also with the power cord. This should help make it obvious that the Cimex will not cause damage as all the other rotaries would.
Here is what should go on in a class at a distributor or even getting one to work with you to see what different machines can do. Do your own homework, test them out for yourself. Nothing wrong with getting opinions but you really want to do your own due diligence. Once you buy something, it is yours.
SAA
