The best that I have found are the Janome 6600 for hours of piecing and the Janome 8900. Largest harp area is the 8900. The harp space is 11"....and the price is very reasonable. The price is going down again, due to the potential of another machine coming out.....I don't have any con's....These are sturdy machines that do a great job. My 8900 does a better job of FMQ than the 6600...but it is probably operator error...I had eyelashes with the 6600, but not on the 8900. Neither one of these machines like Coats and Clark thread, but that is not a problem since I haven't purchased CC thread for years.