2011 Sebo X1.1

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I know right!

They aren't whisper quiet but hell what do you expect? Better than a screaming motor.

Ah well,she's a delicate little flower! :P
 
My parents current X4 is quite noisy.
The X1.1 they have is only slightly quieter.

I think the X1 machines are quietest and easiest to push. My parents also have one of those, not sure if the carbon brushes have seated properly as it always smells slightly of ozone.

I need to get better at fixing motors as I've thrown at least 5 £<10 eBay X1 uprights away because the motors were dead. I can never get the fan casings off.

The current X4 was £10.50, it was clogged with hair and lacking a foot pedal, been going for 6 years with my parents.
X1.1 was similar for £10, needed a foot pedal. Height adjustment is broken and the brushroll gets noisy when it's hot, so I assume a bearing there.
X1 was a part of a pair of which I changed the brushes and used for a while. The white one lasted <6 months before the motor started slowing, I assume bearing was beginning to seize. Grey one still exists.

The remaining X1 machines I scrapped were part of a job lot I didn't have time or space for.
The original X4 we had was used from eBay and lasted about 4 months before it started slowing down and smelling of ozone. Sold it on eBay, the buyer replaced the bearing and re-sold it.
 
I think Sebo uprights are one of the best quality cleaners on sale. However, I don't much like them to use. The staff who clean the communal areas here have two of them somewhere (I say somewhere as recently I have seen a new Henry being used, as well as one of the older Numatic cleaners and from goodness only knows where a Hotpoint Universal upright, but then there are three floors and lots of carpeted corridoors to clean). I know that one of the domestic staff told me she got rather fed-up with the automatic height adjuster on the Sebo taking what seems like a long time to adjust from different carpet types and even then finding it's still not quite right.
 
It just goes to prove that at the end of the day no vacuum cleaner is perfect. You get near perfection with some brands or some models. I loved my SM2 when I got it but the manual height adjustment feels a lot heavier to push the upright across the floor. I know what I prefer - a Sebo Felix instead and being slightly less bulky with its lower like centre of gravity, it feels easier for me to move than putting up with the manual height adjustment X derived SM2.
 
The manual height adjustment has always divided opinion. Some love it, some hate it. In my experience, it's always worked well for me. I've had 2 X series cleaners in 4 different houses now and regardless of the type of house (mill conversion flat, 1950's semi, victorian terrace and a new build town house) and type of flooring I've never had any problems with the height adjustment being too slow or not cleaning properly. Indeed, seconds lost waiting for the height adjuster is made up in the time saved using the quick release wand over certain other brands that half the cleaner has to be dismantled just to use the hose. Everything has it's pro's and con's.

Noise wise, I wouldn't call them whisper quiet. Heck, not even Miele quiet. But the noise is not unpleasant. It's a lower pitched noise and not has harsh on the ears as a screaming Dyson or Vax motor. I'd say more comparable with a Henry on full power.
 
I thought I would like the manual height version but I just dont find it as light or as effective. I know that sounds weird but its just how I feel about the SM2 in general. It may be the bigger floor head but I have used an ET2 before on the old Dart I used to own and it didn't feel bulky. Perhaps the swivel neck has a lot to do with it, IDK.
 
As collectors though, would life be great if there was a perfect vacuum cleaner? I think I would stop collecting if that was the case.

Or would I just continue to collect brochures and stop collecting actual machines altogether? Im going all Sarah Jessica Parker all of a sudden now... I do apologise.

Could the threat of having a perfect vacuum cleaner spell the end of collecting vacuums? Or do others have other priorities?
 
To be honest, I think if there was a perfect vacuum that I would still collect. Maybe not modern machines anymore but more vintage,infact to be precise just Turbopowers.

I should imagine it might have a fairly big impact on vacuum collectors,but if many are like me,they will still have the interest in them to keep on collecting.
 
I don't collect vacuums because they perform very well or very badly, I collect for the heritage and legacy of the vacuum manufacturer. I don't have any interest in vacuums past 2000, needless to say I don't collect modern ones.
 
There never will be one perfect vacuum. One person might get a vacuum and think it's their perfect vac another might think it's rubbish.

At the end of the day everyone is different.
 

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