I too have the Memory Craft 9000 and love it.
The only machines I have had are New Home and then Janome.
From whit I understand New Home and Janome have merged.
If I had to purchase a new machine the first one I would look at would be Janome....Love it - Love it.

Hi - I have the 6600 - I love it. If you do buy it please consider buying the drop in floor table that fits it so it is a bench machine, because it just makes sewing so easy. This is a big powerful machine, no sucking of fabric with this baby. I did read on Horizon reviews that it does not have the thread guide that the 6600 has which is a problem - by that I mean the ones that sit up tall off the machine so that your thread has heaps of time to straighten before going down through the guides to the needle. The built in walking foot is great and I have not had material snag when quilting with it.

I have the 6600. Got it about 3 months ago. I haven't had very many problems with the fabric getting pulled under. I did purchase the single hole throat plate just haven't used it yet. The adjustable tension is so wonderful, I haven't used the walking foot yet. I would say you need to take into consideration the cost of the feet you want. Alot of feet come with the machine but the quarter inch walking foot,the single throat plate and the stitch in the ditch foot,and the quilting foot are all extra. So I did spend more then I thought I would. I would also hope you will get free classes so you can learn all the wonderful things you can do. This machine is amazing and I love it. Hope you get your new machine soon, which ever you choose.

everything you mentioned, other than the single hole throat plate came with my machine. I found the machine so intuitive I didn't need classes The manual is very easy use. I've had this machine for 5 years.

I also have the 6600 and I absolutely love it.

I have had the 6500 for about 5 years now and I love it! I do a lot of piecing, and machine quilt my baby and lap size quilts with no problems. I rarely make quilts much larger but, when I do, I usually send them out to a local longarmer to be quilted. I have not missed the free arm aspect but since I mainly quilt, I don't really need that feature. Good Luck!

Oh, you just mentioned something I actually do miss. I wish this machine had a free arm.

I went all over St. Louis County about 5 years ago looking to buy a Janome MC6500 but the dealers didn't know much about it and weren't willing to offer any deals like extra feet. Then I found out about the Elna 7200 and started looking around for it. The second dealer I visited had one setup and was making a quilt on it when I walked in the door. It came with the table & feet I wanted and she had one in a box she was saving for herself but she sold it to me on the spot! I was a very happy camper. The Elna 7200 is the Elna commissioned version of the Janome MC6500. I believe the Elna 7300 is the Elna version of the Janome MC6600 so you might find what you're dreaming about at the Elna dealer just like I did!

New Home is the name that Janome was sold under in the US when it wasn't politically correct to be a "Made in Japan" product. When we got over that phobia they just "came out" as Janome and dropped the New Home name.

I've got the Janome 11000, MC9000, Gem, Hello Kitty and one other basic New Home. They all work great and have never given me any trouble. I would definitely go for one of the newer models that has the wider neck so you can quilt a larger quilt without trouble. I personally would never give up the embroidery feature!

Thanks everyone...I'm glad to hear that the 6600 isn't a real problem with fabric getting caught on the built in walking foot as I would have preferred it over the 6500, although both look good machines. I think I will ignore what the lady in the shop said about their quilts catching on it. I'm still hankering after the 7700 though so I will bide my time a bit longer and see what happens. If not that, then probably it will be the 6600...at this stage :)