Originally Posted by
marywalker375
Not exactly sure what I want but spending $17,000+ is outrageous and really unnecessary. I am not sure what brand to compare machines to.
Sometimes your space availability dictates whether you get a sit-down or frame setup. Frames take quite a bit of space. Common sizes are 10 feet wide (I can get a small queen on mine) to 14 feet wide (necessary for quilting king size), plus you need a minimum of 3 feet on one side to get around the frame, and 3 feet on each side is even better.
I like my Voyager 17/Hinterberg frame set that I bought used from a quilt guild member for $3,000 (quilt guild member was upgrading to a more expensive setup). My "dream" machine is an Innova with lightning stitch, which would be close in price to the $17,000 you mention.
You really need to try out various setups at a quilt show to help figure out what you want. A good rule-of-thumb is to spend a year researching setups before making a purchase.
Edit: I somehow missed that the Pfaff you are looking at is a domestic sit-down machine. For this type of machine, you *really* want the biggest harp you can find, which I think is about 11". The next step up would be a machine such as the Sweet Sixteen which is made exclusively for free motion quilting sitting down (no feed dogs).