Chestermikeuk
Hey Mike,
I need to do a noise comparison test, but it seems to produce about the same level of noise as my Capricorn. It's heavier than the SEBO upright (at least from what I recall when I tried the SEBO). It seems more comparable to the Riccar Radiance in weight and feel, i.e., it feels very solid.
I'll try and take more photos in the next few days of the brushroll and guts. To access the dust bag, you pull the silver lever on the front. I really like the fact that the front cover is hinged, i.e., you don't need to pull it off completely, it simply falls forward enough to replace the dust bag. It's very similar in feel to the canister lid. And, in many respects, this upright feels like a Miele canister. Ron explained that Miele's goal was to incorporate as many of the canister's features/pluses as possible. At first blush, it seems they've succeeded.
To access the HEPA filter, you lift the grill on the front. It's also hinged. The filter is easy to install and take out. And, it fits snugly in place. Just as you'd expect on a Miele.
And, yes it has twin motors. It has a Vortex suction motor and the brushroll motor can be turned off to vacuum bare floors. Fab. It also has automatic height adjustment (unless I've missed something. No, I haven't cracked the owner's manual yet.).
An anecdotal note: This vacuum is so new that Miele hasn't even branded its dust bag packaging yet. You can tell it's a Miele box, because it's the same style as the box in which Miele packages the F/J/M Intensive Clean Plus Dustbags, but it's white without the Miele branding. How cool is that?!?
Here's a parting shot with the Miele Antares I got from Andy W. Thanks again Andy. It's reminiscent of the Hoover collections where they used the same color palette. I love it.
