We bought a Frigidaire Affinity 6000 set in mid December for $999 for the pair (great deal I think, but even if not on sale the washer runs around $699 and the dryer around $599). We've only had them a couple of weeks, but so far I am loving this one. My laundry room is only a doorway away from the kitchen, and the washer is usually so quiet that I can be standing 6 feet away and barely hear it. At first, I would peek around the doorway because I thought it had quit running. Anyway, so far, so good, and I would recommend this pair to anyone I know. Please note however, that the washer needs to be perfectly level to be that quiet (but this is probably true for all front loaders).

@ jwvideo - We had our new SQ delivered on Tuesday. No issue with the standpipe and the delivery went without a hitch despite 18 inches of snow on the ground and having had to dig a path for the expected delivery to the basement bulkhead the weekend before. A little sand applied on ice that had developed and we were good to go. We had to wait over a week for it and we had quite a pile of laundry waiting for it, so I've already put about 10 loads of laundry through it. [g]. I'm already happier with this machine than the old one. They had two models available and I ended up with the one that has the electronic buttons, only because the warranty was 5 years on it and the other machine that I believe had dials, had a 3 year warranty. Why I have no idea. You'd think it would be the other way around. One of the first questions I asked the delivery team was how to get the hottest water in the wash. He told me, just don't use the normal cycle. Evidently it doesn't allow for hot water, but mixes the hot and cold. On Permanent Press cycle or Heavy Duty, when you set it to hot, you get straight hot. Keeping this conversation in mind, about water coming into the tub, initially cold that lowers the eventual temp of the water, I asked him how I could overcome that, since I didn't have a sink nearby that I could run off the cold before filling the washer. And what we figured out, was that I could start the cycle, allow for water to begin to fill the tub, keep lifting the lid, to see when the hot water was coming out and cancel the load and spin out the small amount of cold water before starting the load. I did do that a couple of times, but once I got the water for the first load all set, subsequent loads had hot water entering the tub from the beginning. The water gets hot enough that even the exterior top of the lid is hot to the touch. lol. I love that. I can see that this machine is not the same as the old washer I had for 30+ years, and the biggest difference seems to be in the agitator action. That old top loader had quite a vigorous agitator motion, up and down and I think this Speed Queen has less agitation. I can't tell yet, because it doesn't continue washing when you lift the lid, as the old one would. I know you can put some cardboard somewhere to prevent the wash from stopping when you lift the lid, but, I haven't felt the need to do that. I felt my stress level lower after a few loads of laundry. :-). The clothes were coming out of the wash in much the same condition I remember having with my old top loader. Cleaner, more well rinsed, less wrinkled. I was able to run some of them in the dryer for 5 minutes and hang them to dry with much less wrinkles then the front loader. Ahhh! Hot water for towels has been great. Some of my old towels look so much better. So thank you all for the input and pointing me in a good direction! Now if anyone knows of a non toxic laundry detergent that really cleans, I could stop thinking about the laundry.

I read lots of both professional and personal reviews before buying any appliance. The professional reviews, like those done by Consumer Reports, compare new machines and give pros and cons. The personal reviews can provide extra detail, but too many are either "works great" or "worst ever" with no detail as to why they love it or hate it. Having said that, I have had my LG washer for several years and am very happy with it. On some loads the machine shakes during spin, but that's rare and minor. Mold is a continuing threat, so I leave my washer door open for a couple of hours after a load, and you do have to perform cleanings regularly. The thing I most like about this washer is the delightful tune it plays at the end of the wash. My washer is 4.0 cubic ft which does a queen set of sheets and four pillowcases, or the queen quilt or spread easily. However, a twin size comforter can be too much for it. So buy the largest size you can afford if you don't want to have to take stuff to the laundry.

The manufacturer pedestals all are meant to be bolted to the machine, so you can slide the entire unit out if needed to service or access the back. Basic pedestals have large drawers where you can store supplies, or even use as hampers. Fancier pedestals can include another washing machine (see LG sidekicks). Whether on pedestals or not, I find almost all front loaders too tall to fold laundry on top, but you could still use a shelf above for more storage if you wanted. With your own built pedestals you would still want to bolt the machines onto the pedestals as a safety issue (and to protect your machines and floors from the machine smashing down). So you would want to make sure they can take the shaking and flex, and you would need to unbolt to move them and it would be even more work to take them off. I have seen them done many times, but just things to be aware of. Oh, and the times I have seen them done they were more solid boxes - I’d be concerned about the durability of “open” pedestals, or if it would affect the machine warranties since it is not a solid platform. But for space savings stackables are nice. I have a laundry room with side by side washer and dryer on the manufacturers matching pedestals on my second floor (no problem reaching controls or soap trays from standing) but I put stackables in my mudroom to have a second laundry on main floor near kitchen and garage entry. I am 5’4” and don’t have difficulty reaching into the dryer tub on top without a stool - and the tub lights up and it is not that deep that things go missing in there :) i would not put cabinet in between machines. Far less convenient to move set laundry to the dryer, and exposes the cabinet to more moisture.