I have the Janome 6500 which was the forerunner of the 6600. It is the most expensive machine that I have every bought and the one that I have liked the least. It should have been painted yellow. I bought it after hearing all the wonderful reviews about Janomes and of course it did not help that I had a uncooperative dealer. I had bobbin case problems, feed dogs that wouldn't stay up, chipped paint, error messages and thread jams and constantly breaking needles. Eventually the machine was declared "defective" by the head office and replaced. The new one has worked better but I still don't like it and hope to sell it. I bought myself a Juki TL98Q and I now love my machine again. My Juki sews rings around the Janome and was less than half the price. It doesn't have all the stitches but it doesn't give me any trouble either. I think it is a matter of figuring out what you need a machine to do and finding one that fits your criteria and even in recommended machines, there are lemons!