The A-1 isn't as well known as some of the others, but many fine artists have used the machine - including Jamie Wallen. I wanted a long arm, but I am a thrifty soul. Was actually going to go for the Innova and the 5 days of training when the training center cut ties with Innova. Then, somehow, I saw an auction for an A-1 with 12 ft table. It has all the bells and whistles and I got it at a terrific price. So I satisfied the deal in me and got a great machine. During one of my trips thru a large quilt show I tried several brands and really liked the Gammil which surprised the heck out of me as I had used a Gammil Vision in a class and was underwhelmed. You just need to keep looking.
BTW, my machine was a repo, at an as is, where is facility. That generally means you buy it and don't come back to them if it doesn't run. In this case the machine was broken down so no test could be done, but was told it ran. Got it home - nothing - sent it off to A-1, it was set up with a computer - it couldn't have run for them. So she got a spa treatment and the company paid for it and she's perfect and my bargain got even better. But if it wasn't for my wonderful dh none of this could have happened.