I use a Hoover PowerMax canister. I've done house cleaning for years and its my machine of preference. Personally I think it grooms and deep cleans better than our Kirby G4. I've been using Hoover PowerMax canisters since 1997 and I've been far more impressed with their performance over Kenmore canisters, Kirby G4, Nutone Central vac, Electrolux Guardian, Eureka World Vac, Filter Queen Majestic- our model might not have been working too good though.
The Hoover Windtunnel canister is good, but I actually like running the PowerMax power nozzle with the Windtunnel suction unit better than the Windtunnel head.
Our Riccar 1700 has tremendous suction, the agitator is powerful. However the agitator cavity is quite narrow and because of that I don't think it offers near airflow for the agitator to really do its job, otherwise this machine would be much better deep cleaner.
I think a Hoover Dimension 1000 would do a great job, my Eureka 1784B is good, although I think a double brush agitator without beater bar might be better? Anyone feel free to comment on this please. Does a single brush, single beater bar outclean a double brushed agitator?
I was quite impressed testing an Oreck Quest Pro canister at Boscov's, it lifted the pile while, also the new Royal Lexon SR20 which Govacuum posted a review of on youtube looks nice.
I have never used a Sebo, Rainbow, Lindhaus or Miele with power head so I can't comment on performance of those.
