Personally within the Mathews line the Switchback is a better bow than the Switchback XT and from I understand in several local shops, Mathews owners are saying the same thing.

I incorporated the Switchback when I shot several makes of bows trying to decide on a new bow. I wanted the Switchback to impress me so much that I was going to purchase one. After shooting all the bows, the Switchback did impress me but not to the point of purchase. I did however go with another maunfacturer.

The Switchback is very smooth to draw, it's quiet and handshock free. The smooth draw however is the reason for it's lack of speed compared to many other of the bows I shot. It's plenty fast but just doesn't compare to some others. The Switchback XT was actually slower yet and I'm not a big fan of short, short bows...the Switchback was about as short as I wanted to go and with the XT not being better, I dismissed it from the line.

Moral of my story....unless your manufacturer biased, you might want to shoot several manufacturers if your dead set on a new bow. The Switchback is surely a great bow, it's not for everyone. My friend as well went through the process of a new bow and being he was a Q2 man, he ended up not buying the Switchback either and went with a different manufacturer than I did...just shows, everyone is different.

IF you want more of an explanation, this was my link process: http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1421735