I have a 17" Bailey and I don't have an issue with throat space. I just quilted a 96" long quilt and still had plenty of space in the throat. I had about 12" of quilting space around my needle. True the throat space is a bit smaller than true long arms but if you don't use super thick batting I think you are ok. I am about to start a king size quilt so I will let you know how that goes but I don't anticipate a problem. I love my machine and it works great for me. I haven't had any issues with it since I got it and figured out its tension and what thread works best. But you have those problems with any machine until you get to know it.

I have a brother 1600p which has a 9" throat mounted on a Grace SR2 frame. Frame is limited to 88" wide frame but I find it works very well. Very few tension problems. Now with a 9" frame you have to do a lot of rolling but if you plan things out it works nicely. If you do a long quilt you will be limited to about a 4" border since that is all the throat space you have left. But twin size, lap and baby quilts work well. Sure I'd love to have a 18" throat but can't afford or justify the cost.