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It looks like the inlet for the pre-motor filter is pretty small - how's the airflow overall?

Nice! That's kind of a rare, weird find. Rather like the Royal, in fact :) I recognize that because I used to collect Sun workstations. I still have one that gets used on a regular basis, actually.

Slightly OT, but - is that a Sun Type 7 mouse I see in the background of that last shot?

Can you take a photo of what the motor unit looks like after you take the filter support cone off? There *should* be three screws under there that can be unbolted to separate the top and bottom of the motor housing, but maybe there aren't on the newer models.

Those are my favorite Rainbows, by far, even if the newer ones work better. I just really like the look of that model.

I don't know what year that was made specifically, but it would be from the early 1980s. Prior to that, it would have been "Compact" vice "TriStar", and after (IIRC) 1985 it would have been "TriStar CXL". This one, provided my memory serves, is from the relatively short period where Compact and...

I've done just that, actually. Well, I have an EBK360, that's an EBK340, but much the same idea. It sure does do a heck of a job.

If you have a Tristar CXL, you might consider adding the HEPA pre-motor filter and possibly the post-motor filter cartridge - that would help quite a bit. If you're looking to replace it, though, a Filter Queen is always a good bet. For new-production machines, Miele, Riccar/Simplicity and Sebo...

The metal Royals are a lot lighter than a Kirby, and they'll last just as long with good maintenance. Their attachments are more cumbersome, in my opinion (the belt lifting is manual, foo.) The Simplicity Symmetry/Riccar Vibrance are good machines, but the auto pile height adjustment is...

I have a Simplicity 6970, which is pretty close to the Symmetry (earlier version, basically), and I think it does a pretty good job. It certainly grooms and agitates well and has good airflow, but I have medium-pile carpets. I'm not sure how well it would work on a deep plush. The brush roll...

No, not by a longshot. It's not bad, but I think the Riccar/Simplicity PN is probably the best in the business. I've used a few and compared some side-by-side at a local vacuum shop, and their Simplicity Gusto floor model (maybe it was a Moxie, either way... had the 3-row brush roll) shook the...

Yeah, manual is better, in general. Auto works OK on medium-pile carpets, but very deep or very short and dense ones will have some problems.

If you have mostly/exclusively wall-to-wall carpeting, little or no hard floors and little above-floor cleaning, something like a Sanitaire, a metal Royal or, if you want to splurge, a Riccar Radiance/Simplicity Synergy would be hard to beat. But, if you prefer canisters, which I do, you'll find...

If you're going second-hand, though, an older Heritage II Legend or Legend II might be easier to use than a Generation series, and probably performs just as well for most purposes. Earlier ones are harder to get bags for, and/or use dump bags, which can be a pain - but the last two or three...

If you're not overly concerned with looking original, you should be able to fit a Heritage II or Legend II bag/mini-emtor on there, and it will be able to use Generation/Sentria bags. There are some more involved MacGyverisms to retrofit an original bag and Sani-Emtor to take Generation-series...

Huh. Never seen one of those before, very nice! Do these use bags, or do they have a Silver King-style disk filter system?

Oh, oops! I was wrong about that then! Explains how it does so well on a small motor, then.

I think power *can* make some difference, but you do hit diminishing returns. Obviously the more convoluted the air path, the more power you need to get the same thing done, but there are limits. Does a 1200W Sebo D4 perform that much better than an 865W Filter Queen 95x? Not really, and most...

Pretty much everything recommended above, plus change out the donut filter and the blower cap pad (which does serve as a filter of sorts). I have an FQ 95x (late 80s) that I bought from someone who had obviously smoked lots of both tobacco and marijuana (and sucked up the ashes), and who had...

The Sebo and Windsor uprights are actually made by the same folks (Sebo), though yeah, the plastic on the commercial models is probably higher-grade than that in the home models. You might look on eBay if your local vacuum shops and thrift stores don't have anything useful. Also, as recommended...