I have 2 Janomes. My first one is the Janome Quilter's Choice 6260 that is 3 years old. It doesn't have a very big harp space *6 1/2"* for a 'quilters' machine, but it is a work horse. I use it with a walking foot for piecing but also do some freemotion on it and it works well.
I added the Janome Horizon this summer. I love it. It was very easy to learn, probably because I'm familiar with Janome. She is big! The 11" harp will take anything you throw at her. But, she is a computerized machine, and they can be divas. If I ask her to go through a very thick seam, it balks as if to say "ooh, I don't want to do that." But if you use the wheel to get through the tough areas then it takes off again no prob. I even use her on my quilting frame.
The only thing I would change on the Horizon would be where the knee lifter is. Because she has such a long base, the knee lifter is way over to the right - so far that even with my long legs, I don't use it. If it were closer to the needle I would use it.
I looked at the Pfaff HQ but decided against it mainly because the harp is only 9" and because I 'know' the Janome brand. I did follow a Pfaff Yahoo group for a while and there was a lot of complaining going on. So I stayed with Janome, and I would highly recommend them.