I tried the M7 at the Sewing Expo a few weeks ago. For the money, I is not worth it for me, particularly if the stitches are wonky. I did not check the stitches closely....other ladies wanted a try. I did check the stitch sample on Janome's site and all of their "heirloom" stitches were wonky. It has some new features and looks to have a huge throat space....but my Janome 8900 and Janome 15000 have a little over 11".....so 2 inches and an automatic throat plate exchange are not worth paying $8000 or a little less. If you measure your throat space....I have a S7 too, is it worth $8,000 for 5.5" more to the right of your needle? Will that 5.5" make that much difference in quilting your quilts? If throat space was a problem for me, I would look for a mid arm machine. Just my thoughts. Janome makes great machines that last a very long time with no issues. Stitch quality is more important to me than the throat space. I think they missed the mark on this one.