Oreck,
My partner gave me the top of the Oreck XL21 for my birthday, it is my daily driver. There is a huge difference in its performance over the other models.
I must say, it cleans very well and requires little or no effort in use. They have a wonderful bag system. I also use it when I clean for a friend in WI. It does a wonderful job in her home and I do think it cleans deeper than we give it credit. The bag on that machine fills very quickly. It is not a small bag it is always has it's fair share of sand and other grit that I consider to be deeper types of dirt in the carpet.
Price is out of this world, but I have to give them credit, still American made, still doing all of thier production here in the states...more than you can say for most companies. Kirby may be the only other company that can still claim that.
Morgan