@odie I'm definitely not keen on the position of the controls. On my Rikon the controls were on the front-side of the right hand end of the bed. Very convenient. I suspect that it would be an easy task to make the Nova controls into a mobile box with some rare earth magnets on the back so I could stick it on the front of the lathe bed. The Record Envoy and Regent have such and arrangement.
The swivel headstock is awesome; I started hollowing out the little cherry bowl without moving the headstock and immediately ran into the tailstock and the wall. Fifteen seconds later I had the head swung out and I was back in business without interference. This means I can keep the machine close to the wall which matter when one's shop is only 9' wide.
The 1624 is close to 300 lbs with the cast iron legs. I have a plan to add another couple hundred pounds with a shelf, some concrete blocks and a tool cabinet for chucks etc.
@Vincent Vogel I'm searching for a used 3-phase 145TC motor but I live on an island and there is a very small used machinery market locally.