Ed Weber
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IMO (You can all start bashing me after this post) Hammer and Felser are a step up from the usual brands mentioned, you could also add Altendorf. Some brands are simply more expensive, some are expensive for a reason.
Some is name recognition, some is method of work. As an example, many people have never seen a sliding tablesaw let alone used one, so they have no knowledge base to compare with the usual suspects.
You can spend anywhere from about $1,200 to almost $10,000. The usual suspects you mentioned are priced in the lower half of that scale and are made for hobbyists to small shops. The upper echelon machines from the top of the range are professional/commercial tools, designed to work all day everyday with little down time. Mostly it's all the things you don't see that are higher quality, bushings, bearing, motors, warranty, etc, not the color of the cabinet. Monet is always a factor but it goes both ways. It could be too expensive to afford or more tool than you need at the time and money could be better spent on a lower cost machine and (fill in the blank)
I have a Grizzly 3hp cabinet saw. At today's prices I could get the same thing for $1,495 or buy a comparable (almost identical) JET for $2500. The machines are almost identical, why pay an extra $1,000 ? it's still in the lower half of the quality range? All I get is dirty white paint, the quality or most of the tools in the lower half of the range is about the same (good quality, not great). They all have there flaws, you are really only "feature" shopping. You may pay a premium for one color paint over another but many of the components are the same quality, there is no point in wasting money. If I want/need better quality, I need to start looking in the upper end of the range.
FYI, General is updating their look and brand this year, they'll have new machines as well.
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