i was literally in the same boat, and finally pulled the trigger last week. i already have a chosera 1k, so i went for the chosera 600 and 3000. then i went for the shapton 5k and 8k. the shapton japanese versions look to be identical to the shapton pro hones, at a better price point. i have not used them yet, but they look quite nice. just be careful, i also added a nakayama kiita and a labeled escher.