I learned on a Nolting hobby quilter..(store that I worked at).I just loved it, there was an issue with certain threads breaking but did not have problems with tension. We did not have stitch regulator but we were able to do a good job of keeping a good stitch. We had about three persons running the machine and did not have any problems. When did run into a problem we called Nolting and talked to their tech person and he was able to talk us through the repair.
I do know that most of the machines like a tightly woven bobbin..do know if that makes a difference of which machine you wind the bobbin with.
I now have a HQ16 and am very happy with it.