SVP(who owns the Singer name) contracted with Janome to build some of their machines. Singer didn't buy the models to use as their own. Singer is only a name owned by a holding company, it hasn't been the Singer as we knew it for many years. So having a Singer machine twin to a Janome may or may not be a bargaining chip. I've not heard anything bad about the Janome built Singers, which is probably why Singer did it in the first place. It's been a long time since Singers reputation had good marks.
Cari