Personally, I would avoid a front load. Mine is constantly out of balance.

We have a new top loader Whirlpool with washer and dryer in our 2nd floor laundry and they are quiet. But I agree that as long as your Electrolux was balanced, there’s a chance it could be your floor.

My stacked front loader barely hums at 1600rpm. The floor system is solid and nothing shakes at all.

scott - how do I reinforce the existing floor?

No laundry load will be perfectly balanced. My SQ FL goes through a lot of speed and direction changes trying to balance loads, and also has moveable balancing weights behind the drum. Usually it will succeed at sufficiently balancing the load that it can achieve high speed spin. Even a TL will be less than perfectly balanced and the vibration when spinning, while nominally radial, will have an axial component that couples with the floor.

To HU's question. Reinforcing a floor can be a big project, particularly if the area is embedded with wiring and/or plumbing. Joists can be 'sistered' with microlam type beams. A lattice of alternating wood sections can be screwed into place (glue to sub floor if not accessible from above). I did the lattice scheme to a weak bathroom floor to allow tile in place of the original linoleum. Metal strapping configurations are also possible. Overall, the idea is to significantly increase the sectional rotational moment of inertia of the beams providing floor support.

Assuming that the washer has to be on a second floor and not a first floor or basement slab, then I would also recommend obtaining industrial dampening material, typically in the form of lossy rubber (opposite of a super ball) with a waffle impression. On this material would be set a stiff metal sheet (or four sub sheets) that couples the washer feet to the rubber over a large area. Doing just the corners in a stacked rubber/metal/rubber/etc. scheme might work even better, but care is needed to keep the washer from "walking" off of the stack.

Vibration dampening is a technical area that if not analyzed by someone skilled in the art will of necessity be somewhat experimental.

Consumer Reports rated the vibration of the Maytag MHW6630HW "Excellent" and the washer is "recommended" and reasonably priced. It's companion MED6630HW stacking dryer did acceptably. HD owners seem to like both. Noise and vibration are different things; the washer achieved a "Very Good" noise score while the dryer earned a "Good".

Note that three of four Electrolux washers tested by CR earned vibration scores of "Very Good" so replacing it may not solve your vibration problem.

i am reading such mixed things about front loader versus top loader. one store rep said top loader whirlpool and the other said front loading maytag. Has anyone tried both on a second floor and found one to be quieter/vibrate less?

My Electrolux front load washer/dryer are 10 years old. I’ve had them in 2 different homes and have never had a balance problem. They were both on a slab foundation with floor tile. I believe it’s your floor, not the appliances. You may have balance issues with top loaders as well.

Is there any advantage to going with top loader for noise and vibration or is it a minimal difference that I shouldn’t get my hopes up?