Hi Erik,
You asked for suggestion for a good stand mixer. See the article in
Cooks Illustrated - Nov-Dec 2005 they did a lot of testing on stand
mixers. I too wanted to upgrade my old KA mixer. My problem was the
height of the machines. I wanted mine to fix under my
cabinets. After much research I choose a Delonghi DSM5. It is a 5
qt. machine. They also make a 7 qt. that I found just to big. It
was very hard to find and I ended up purchasing in on Ebay. I have
been very happy with it. I have made several heavy breads and my
German Stollen (3 loves). The only thing I do not care for is that
the bowl is hard to clean on the bottom where it locks on to the
machine. (KA is better here). The way I get around the problem is
to not set the bowl in dish water. I just hand wash the bowl (It can
go in the dishwasher). I love the shape of the bowl - it is easy to
add to and to scrape down. It is a work horse.
Good luck.