I went from the Janome 6500 to 6600 mainly because the 6600 has a 9" harp space versus a 6" harp space as I do my own FMQ. Both are great machines.

If the 6500 only has 6" of harp space I'd not get it as a serious quilter. There is a world of difference between 6" and 9" of harp or throat space!

I agree with everything Melanie said. I had a 6600 machine and traded up for the 8900. Although I like my 8900, the 6600 is still one of the best machines I owned. I too could quilt large quilts, the walking foot system allowed me to do fantastic stitch-in-the-ditch. I didn't have issues with cleaning out the bobbin case. I think that is the nature of a drop in bobbin machine. Good luck on you decision.

I really really disliked (hated) my Janome 6500 although many others loved it. Mine was a problem right from the beginning (company finally replaced it). The bobbin case would jam, rattle and jump (finally found out that there is a wick hole under the case that dries out and needs a drop of oil once in a while although this is not mentioned in the manual and my dealer seemed to know nothing about it). It hesitated and balked starting and stitching over seam junctions, hated thicker layers and wouldn't feed fabric in evenly. It clearly should have been painted yellow! The replaced machine was better but still had some of the same issues. I finally got so fed up with it that I sold it on Kijiji for $500 (paid $2000) and bought myself a lovely Juki Exceed 600.

I am perfectly happy with my machines...now maybe if you were looking at quilting machines, I might have an opinion...

I have the 6500 and love it. I've had it about 10 years and never had one bit of trouble with it. It has the 9" harp although one other post said it didn't and they traded up to the 6600 because of this. I think they are the same machine with the 6600 having additional features.

If the machine has features that your other machine doesn't have and you know that it will help your sewing then I say go for it.

Just curious, do you know if Janome is making all the current Singers? A friend asked me about buying a Singer on Black Friday sale at Tuesday Morning (because I love sewing machines friends think I know all about them-LOL) I looked up the model & for some reason the description made me think it might be a Janome. Since Tuesday Morning has a 90 day return policy I advised her to buy it, & actually use it for projects before the 90 days passed. So far she loves it.

The Janome 6500P also includes many features designed especially for the quilter including: a 9" x 5" throat space for working with large quilts,

Bought a Janome 15000, but I kept my 6600. Love that machine and I just wouldn't let it go.