EquipmentJune 2026
Balanced Body Allegro 2 Review
The machine on its own terms: carriage, springs, fold and who it suits.
Read → 10 min readComparison·Reformers
Allegro 2 vs
SPX Max
Updated 16 September 2026 · 11 min read
These are the two machines serious home buyers cross-shop most, and the comparison is usually framed as a price question. It is not, and on current pricing it barely can be: $3,649 against $3,995 is a gap of around nine percent. What actually separates them is that they fold in different directions, and that single mechanical difference decides the purchase for most people before anything else gets a vote. The accessory ecosystem decides it for the rest, over a longer horizon than most buyers are thinking about.
The short version
The machine has to disappear between sessions: SPX Max, because the flat fold and castors are a genuinely different capability. The machine can stay up and you intend to build around it with a tower, boxes and converters: Allegro 2, for the ecosystem and the resale. Buying on price: there is about $350 in it, which is not enough to decide a four-figure purchase you will live with for a decade. Decide on the fold.
At a glance · verified September 2026
Balanced Body Allegro 2 Reformer
From $3,995
Merrithew SPX Max Reformer
From $3,649
The fold is the decision
Both machines run the full reformer repertoire. Both are built properly. If you set them up side by side in a studio you would be splitting hairs over carriage feel. What you would not be splitting hairs over is where each one goes when you have finished.
The SPX Max folds flat and rolls on castors. It goes under a bed, into a cupboard, along a hallway. The room returns to being a room. The Allegro 2 folds upright and stands against a wall: quicker, less effort, and the machine is still in the room looking like a reformer.
That difference decides more purchases than anything else on this page, because it is not a preference, it is a constraint. In a flat where the living room has to be a living room by seven, the flat fold is the only one of the two that works. In a spare room or a garage where the machine can live permanently, the upright fold is marginally more convenient and the question moves on to other things. Work out which room you are in first, and half the comparison resolves itself. Our dimensions and space guide covers the clearance both need in use, which is the same either way.
Head to head
Fold and storage
Balanced Body Allegro 2
Folds upright and stands against a wall. Quick to set up and put away, but it needs clear wall space and the machine stays visible in the room.
Merrithew SPX Max
Folds flat onto integrated castors and rolls away, including under a standard bed. Leaves no footprint at all between sessions, which is the whole argument for it in an apartment.
Spring system
Balanced Body Allegro 2
Balanced Body's graded spring set, with the spring feel that is the brand's most consistently cited strength. Well calibrated across the range.
Merrithew SPX Max
A five-spring set with colour coding, giving a fine gradation particularly at the lighter end. That lighter-end resolution is genuinely useful for rehabilitation, prenatal and early post-surgical work.
Accessory ecosystem
Balanced Body Allegro 2
The deepest in the industry. Towers, riser kits, converters, boxes, the IQ spring system, all purpose-built and widely stocked. This is the main thing the price premium buys.
Merrithew SPX Max
A solid, complete range covering what most practitioners and most studios need, without the same long tail. Merrithew's own continuing-education catalogue is extensive, which is a different kind of ecosystem.
Clinical positioning
Balanced Body Allegro 2
The machine in a great many boutique studios and the brand used in Balanced Body's own certification programmes. Contemporary, anatomy-forward.
Merrithew SPX Max
STOTT PILATES lineage with a strong biomechanical and rehabilitation orientation, and a presence in clinical settings. The better cultural fit if you work alongside physiotherapy.
Resale
Balanced Body Allegro 2
Strong. The brand most searched for secondhand, particularly in the United States, so it sells faster and at a higher share of the original price.
Merrithew SPX Max
Good, helped by the STOTT name and the clinical association, though the installed base is smaller than Balanced Body's.
Price
Balanced Body Allegro 2
$3,995 standard, around $4,325 to $4,345 with the leg kit. Checked against dealer listings in September 2026.
Merrithew SPX Max
$3,649 for the base machine. Around $350 below the Allegro 2, which is closer than this pairing is usually described. Bundles are priced considerably higher, so confirm your exact configuration.
On price, which is closer than you think
The Allegro 2 is $3,995 for the standard machine and around $4,325 to $4,345 with the leg kit, checked against current dealer listings in September 2026.
The SPX Max Reformer is $3,649. That is around $350 below the Allegro 2, roughly nine percent, and it is a much smaller gap than this pairing is usually described as having. Both machines are also sold in bundles priced considerably higher than the base unit, so check which one a quote refers to before comparing anything.
When you do compare, compare delivered totals. These machines ship as freight, and the difference between two sellers quoting the same price can run to hundreds of dollars once shipping, tax and any import surcharge are applied. Our guide to where to buy a reformer covers how the channels differ and what each one protects.
The five-year question
Reformers are platforms. What mounts to them is model-specific, not universal, so the machine you choose determines what you can add to it for as long as you own it. This is the factor buyers weigh least and regret most.
Balanced Body has the deepest accessory catalogue in the industry and the widest dealer network to supply it, which is most of what the Allegro 2 premium buys. If you can see yourself adding a tower, a converter, boxes and risers over the next few years, that catalogue is worth paying for now. If you want a reformer to do reformer work and cannot imagine buying attachments for it in 2031, you are paying for an option you will not exercise, and the SPX Max is the better-value machine.
Settle these before ordering either
- ⚠Where does the machine go between sessions? This decides the fold, and the fold decides the machine.
- ⚠Do you want a tower eventually? If so, confirm compatibility for your exact configuration and measure your ceiling height first.
- ⚠What is the delivered total, including freight, tax and any import surcharge, from each seller you are comparing?
- ⚠Will you teach paid sessions on it? If so, check the warranty wording for commercial use before anything else.
- ⚠Can the machine physically reach the room? Measure doorways, corridor turns and lift depth.
- ⚠What do replacement springs and ropes cost for that model, and are they stocked?
- ⚠Might you sell within a few years? If so, the resale gap is a real cost and it favours the Allegro 2.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, the Allegro 2 or the SPX Max?
Neither is better in the abstract, and they solve different problems, and on current pricing they are close enough that price is not one of them. The SPX Max is $3,649 and the Allegro 2 is $3,995, a gap of around $350. The SPX Max folds flat and rolls away, which makes it the answer in a room the machine cannot permanently occupy. The Allegro 2 folds upright against a wall, sits inside the deepest accessory ecosystem in the industry, and holds its value better on resale. If the machine has to disappear between sessions, the SPX Max wins on the mechanism. If it can stay up and you expect to add a tower, boxes and converters over years, the Allegro 2 is the better platform.
How much do the Allegro 2 and SPX Max cost?
The Merrithew SPX Max Reformer is $3,649 and the Balanced Body Allegro 2 is $3,995 for the standard machine, or around $4,325 to $4,345 with the leg kit. That is a difference of roughly $350, or about nine percent, which is far smaller than most comparisons of these two machines suggest. Both are also sold in bundles at meaningfully higher prices, so confirm the figure for your exact configuration, and compare delivered totals including freight rather than headline prices.
Can you add a tower to the Allegro 2 or SPX Max?
Both brands offer tower and vertical frame options, but this is the question where the two diverge most and the one worth settling before you buy. A tower changes what the machine can do, adding a large part of the cadillac repertoire, and it also fixes the machine in place because a towered reformer is not something you fold away. It additionally requires ceiling height that a plain reformer does not. Confirm tower compatibility for the exact model and configuration you are ordering, and measure your ceiling first.
Which folds better for a small room?
They fold in different directions and that is the practical difference. The SPX Max folds flat and rolls on castors, so it can go under a bed or into a cupboard and leaves no wall footprint at all. The Allegro 2 folds upright and stands against a wall, which needs clear wall space but is quicker to set up and put away. For an apartment where nothing can stay visible, the flat fold is the more useful mechanism. For a room where the machine can live in a corner, the upright fold is less effort day to day.
Reformers
Both machines
The two machines this comparison is about. Around $350 separates them, so buy on the fold, not the price. Check the warranty covers your intended use before ordering, and confirm the machine fits the room and the route into it.
Balanced Body Allegro 2 Reformer
From $3,995The folding studio machine most home buyers end up comparing everything else against. Upright fold against a wall, the deepest accessory ecosystem in the industry, and the strongest resale of any reformer here. $3,995 standard, around $4,325 with the leg kit.
Shop on AmazonMerrithew SPX Max Reformer
From $3,649The STOTT PILATES reference machine, and the one that folds completely flat onto castors to roll under a bed. Five colour-coded springs with unusually fine gradation at the light end, which is what makes it the pick for rehabilitation and prenatal work.
Shop on AmazonEquipment
Accessories for whichever you choose
The additions people make after the machine. Mountings and spring fittings are model-specific rather than universal, so confirm compatibility with your exact machine before ordering.
Reformer Jumpboard
From $199Both machines take one and both mount differently, so this is not a cross-compatible purchase. It is the highest-value addition to either: a jumpboard turns a reformer into cardio equipment for a fraction of what any other machine would cost, and jumpboard work is on most studio timetables for that reason. Confirm the mounting for your exact model.
Shop on AmazonReformer Sitting Box
From $149The accessory that most expands the repertoire rather than refining it, opening short box, long box and overhead work. Boxes sit on the carriage rather than mounting to the frame, which makes them the most brand-agnostic accessory in this list and a reasonable third-party purchase for either machine.
Shop on AmazonNon-Slip Carriage Pad
From $30Useful on either machine and worth buying early rather than late. A grip pad makes standing and kneeling work feel secure and protects the upholstery, which is the first surface to show age on any reformer at any price. Check the carriage width before ordering, since these are not one size.
Shop on AmazonReplacement Springs
From $45Spring gradation and fittings differ between the two brands, so order for your exact model rather than generically. Whichever you buy, keeping a spare set is sensible: springs lose tension gradually rather than failing visibly, and a drifted set changes every resistance setting without announcing itself.
Shop on AmazonRubber Floor Protection Mat
From $40More relevant to the Allegro 2, which stays in position, but worth having under either. It spreads the load across four small feet, protects a timber or rented floor, and cuts the carriage noise transmitted through the building. Put it down before the machine goes on it.
Shop on AmazonVinyl-Safe Upholstery Cleaner
From $18The habit that decides whether upholstery lasts three years or ten, on either machine. Alcohol-heavy and bleach-based cleaners dry vinyl until it cracks, and a cracked pad is a re-upholstery bill rather than a cosmetic issue. A vinyl-rated formula costs the same.
Shop on AmazonFurther reading
EquipmentJune 2026
Merrithew SPX Max Review
Flat-folding professional reformer, reviewed in full.
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Align Pilates vs Balanced Body
The other brand pairing buyers cross-shop, with current dealer pricing.
Read → 12 min readGuideSeptember 2026
Where to Buy a Pilates Reformer
Direct, dealer or marketplace: what each channel costs and what it protects.
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