I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Symphony! Even traded in a Bernina to get it. Then traded in a Bernina serger to get the Enlighten

Pfaff are not made like they used to be. They do not stand behind their machine. Not made in Germany anymore.

I got the Babylock Espire which is now marketed as the Symphonie. Gave up a Pfaff for mine and LOVE LOVE LOVE mine too.

I love, love, love my Babylock Espire.

But, before making a decision involving that much money, I would suggest you test-drive as many of the above machines as possible. We are almost all partial to our own brand /model, so trying out a variety would give you a feel for the capabilities of several.

Good luck and have fun with the search.

I think you can get a Bernina QE for under 3,000. I don't know if that price includes a BSR. Let us know what you end up with

definitely.

I have the same machine as SMTP, Babylock--Quilter's choice. It does a great job. Good luck

Hubs bought me a Sears machine many years ago (15 perhaps) and I have not had the first problem with it. It has some of the fancy stitches and alphas, too. But it's not the easiest to quilt on. Don't think I can drop the feed dogs so that is an issue. Hubs has a Harley, pretty sure I want a Bernina. Is that a comparison or what? But would settle for Husq or Baby Lock. ha I really appreciate all the info you've shared, especially about the Janome as I was giving that some thought, too.

Whatever you get, Congratulations! It will be like riding a Harley ;-)

I love my Janome Horizon 7700. It has all the bells and whistles of a regular machine - over 200 stitches, but it has a 11" throat which is FANTASTIC for quilting.