Regarding Brother machines - I can't speak to the one you mention but I have 4 basic Brother machines 2 at my house and one at each of my sons. They have never and I mean never had a tension issue. They sew right out of the box and sew through anything including fake fur. I am speaking from my own personal experience with these machines. And I'm talking low end. My oldest one is about 15 years old. Newest is about 4 years old.