Okay, here's my 2 cents. I owned a Brother off the shelf from that ran for years without any trouble. So when I decided I wanted to do embroidery and saw everything they offered, I went for the Innovis D, which as you may know is a very pricey machine. Got the upgrades and thought I was set for life. Fast forward a couple years and the problems begin. I keep my machines meticulously clean, don't use canned air, regular cleaning and maintenance. Thread jam while I was at the dealer taking a Saturday class. They looked at it right away and the technician could not fix the problem. Off it goes to Brother in Georgia for repair. 3 weeks and $328 later back she comes and sews like a dream.
Fast forward 2 years and guess what? Again, a thread jam. Now, I have not had trouble using a non brand name thread. The first jam was using Robison-Anton thread. The second time was Brother thread. Having moved out of state and not being under warranty, I took it to my LQS for repair. They said their guy can fix any machine, 20+ years experience, yadda, yadda. Not only did I have to find and order the part after he diagnosed the problem, but he had never fixed my machine problem before. When I got it back, ($340 for labor plus the $45+ part I ordered) and started embroidering, it couldn't put down a basting stitch. Embroidered ok though. The shop told me I could bring it back to them, but I lost my faith. A year later, I try to embroider hankies and a freestanding lace and thread jam and threading problems again. I put it away, but not before I found that there were also other decorative stitches that would not stitch out. I just couldn't shell out another $350+ for repairs. I am totally disgusted with the machine, I am always afraid to start and ruin a project.
About 2 weeks ago, I took her out and decided that since there's no warranty, I might as well take her apart and see if I could fix it, which I had done before but always stopped short of taking the entire plastic case off. This time I took off as much as I could and got out a high powered LED flashlight. Looking into all the tiny spots and crevices I could my eye caught a tiny flash of green and proceeded to dig out of the uptake arm shiny green metallic thread which amounted to a small gumball. She seems to be working quite nicely now and I am happy. But I will always be waiting for the other shoe to drop. I have no faith in my Innovis or Brother.
I would not buy a combo machine for quilting. I actually went out and bought an old Singer 237 to quilt and general sewingand a Featherweight for travel. My expensive combo machine is used for embroidery only and decorative stitching. I also have a Bernina 600 that embroiders small designs. Don't look for all the bells and whistles just because they're available. You don't have to be in love with the dealer, you're not going to live with them, they are only there to services your machine and provide instruction as needed. Check out the satisfaction level of the dealer from other customers. Good luck.