Help in decision making and purchase advice  

As low as possible minimum layer height

This suggests some very unusual special constraints; what are you trying to do?

Cheerio,

RE: Help in decision making and purchase advice

My printers are all Prusa and i was a first day preorder for the 5H XL. Now if all you want is a large volume printer with an enclosure (needed for ASA) then im not sure that the cost for the XL justifies it. A lot will argue with me but the fact remains that there are out there decent large scale printers with a fraction of the cost. If the XL 's enclosure was included in the price maybe. Now there are some additional things to consider though.

Do you need an out of the box tools or something that you can work with, assemble it and tinker with it. If is the latter then you can check vorons that have tool changing options, large scale, a huge community and decent pricing. BUT it needs a lot of work on your part before actually start printing. If its a ready to work tool you want then prusa is the only choice i can thing of if you need more than 2 toolheads. Up to two you can check for idex printers. If single head is enough along with prusa you have other companies with decent machines.

As much as i like Prusa , not all of their line up is beginner friendly. MK3 was really good in that aspect since it was based on the already excellent mk2 but mmu2S was horrible and XL still waits for polishing out some design problems. SLS1 is OK but really overpriced for what it is. Dont misunderstand me, i love my XL. I mean the tool changing is REALLY a game changer. I dont think i would go for a new printer without that option. ASA with PETG supports or PETG with PLA. Excellent! But im not so sure that i would buy it just for the volume. They fixed a lot of bugs and design issues but still we have the occasional USB failure, and some other TRULY MINOR for me, but still there,  issues that should be already polished out. I mean the usb buffering was a lousy option and slow wifi connection the luck of fan on the board cover (i live in cyprus with 40 degrees summer and this causes issues, not everyone leaves in a cold climate), the extruder failures (which where actually solved NOT by prusa but in this forum from the community) etc.

Also Prusa really had some wonderful innovations on their printer. The load cell gives very good first layer, and their modular heat bed is a nice approach. Im not sure though how it fairs against other technologies like lidar because i didn't use them.

For European manufacturer. If that is really an option concerning "politics" (sorry if its the wrong way to word it, i just cant find the proper phraseology for this) then you limit your self as far as manufacturers are concerned. If its a matter of shipping and tax costs now a lot of non EU companies have outlets in EU and you can check them. Personally i don't bother with stuff like "NO is Chinese made" etc,  since all the electronics on my SLS1 and MK3S/mmu2s where probably manufactured in China. The same goes for my car batteries, mobile phone, pc and most of my electrical devices. So if im concerned just with 3d printers that makes me a bit hypocritical.

Lastly but not least, support. The chat support is really good if you have a bit of patience and if the issue is easily solvable (i.e. component failure). If they recognize that is a component issue and its under warranty you get a replacement part without going through hell. Im truly satisfied with that aspect. Now on the other hand if its something outside the chat's support script and needs escalation to an email support then welcome to a rather slow process. You wait for days and in my case most of the times i had to send "friendly reminders" to get a response. But after this long .. long....long process if the error was a printers fault then again you get a replacement part which is a huge PLUS. I know because a lot of companies out there tend to cheap out.

All in all if you have the cash and want to start with a 2T enclosed XL ... well ... you are going to probably love it.

RE: Help in decision making and purchase advice

Hi there!

First of all, thank you for your swift replies! 😊

@diem: Currently, my goal is to produce small decorative pieces with some added functionality. My question about accuracy and layer height stems from wondering if I’m heading in the wrong direction since printer XYZ is said to be more precise. However, from my research so far, it seems that most well-recognized brands offer similar accuracy, provided they’re used correctly.

@tsamisa: My wife actually suggested the Voron because it would help me really "know my printer," especially when it comes to troubleshooting or upgrading with additional print heads and other modifications.

To summarize:I don’t think I’m intimidated by the build process of the Voron. However, after that initial phase (whether it’s a Voron, a partially assembled XL, or another model), I want a reliable workhorse that doesn’t require constant tinkering to keep running.

Of course, I also value a large print volume and the accuracy mentioned earlier. And yes, I can definitely see the appeal of adding 3–4 print heads within the first year, once I’ve gotten some experience under my belt! 😄

So, for now, the question seems to boil down to this: Do I want to build everything myself (possibly with some help from my electrical engineer brother), or pay "a little" extra for the XL, sparing me the effort but also missing out on the "get to know your printer from the inside out" phase?

Regarding European manufacturers: I’m aware that some parts are inevitably made in China, but I do value the privacy and consumer protection laws in the EU, which may be taken more seriously by European companies. For example, the issue with Bambu Lab ( https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/bambu-lab-security-update-will-remove-orcaslicers-access) made me think twice—even though they eventually reversed the decision.

That said, I’m still open to other suggestions and greatly appreciate the support and openness you’ve already provided!