I see your point - there's a middle ground: too big for most amateurs, to slow/old/ineffiencient for biz.
I've got a manual xlo, old timer told me mine was one of the earlier ones (based on serial number) and that means much heavier castings. I believe they were also made in the USA as well as Canada - they are great machine imo. Hope the head doesn't go
although not loosing sleep because i figuring belts, gears, bearings etc are standard parts and I'll be able to make parts for the vari-speed. a cnc xlo with burnt out controls would be a perfect find!