well, I DO have a Kirby from 1962,and one of the newer ones..(1980's) but note that the air, and thus the dirt, passes THRU the blades of the impeller....I have twice had a broken blade in the newer Kirby. They do not require bag purchases, but you still have to be careful about emptying regularly.

We currently use a canister (Miele)with a 'upright' attachment, so that it is 'almost' like an upright...powered brushes and such. It is 4-5 times as quiet as the Kirby and does as good a job, but does require buying bags....and is not cheap....but what is? (We got it when we needed a Hepafilter for strict dust control, but no longer need or buy the fancy filter.

You sorta need to go out and make a store demo several...