Originally Posted by
bjchad
I have the babylock espire which is the model that the symphony replaced. According to my dealer they are pretty much the same. I love it and use it for piecing, sewing and FMQ.
Don't know anything about the other machine you are contemplating.
I also have the Babylock Espire. I love the needle and foot up/down, auto cutter and auto threader. The only problem I have had sewing is when sewing through a very thick area(belt loop on a robe) it kept making long stitches. Finally had to do on another machine. Next time I will reconfigure belt loop area so not so thick. Also, I don't like some of the decorative stitches on the Espire but can do them on my older Kenmore so not a problem. Other decorative stitches are good and can be used mirror image and/or resized.
Overall, the Espire is a great machine.