Our front loader made a huge difference in how much laundry we go done. We got ours about the second year the duet came out. Got the pedestals. The wife has a bad back so it's easier to move clothes from washer to dryer for her. And our washer hardly ever sits idle.
I have had to put a new pump in it. Easy repair. And I think it needs new shock absorbers. Easy enough to do.
But yeah, we have to run bleach through it often to keep the smell down.
And Kaos, don't use fabric softener on the under armor stuff. It breaks down the fabric!