Digital BW, The Print

Hi Paul,
Thanks for your extremely helpful and detailed post. It's given me a
lot to think about. I have a 7500 with Mediastreet Generations G6
color in it. The color prints it makes are simply not in the same
class as I get from a recently acquired 4000, because the dither
pattern is (relatively) easily seen and 4000/2200 smoothness is not
there. So I'm thinking I'll turn it over to b&w, using QuadtoneRIP, in
the hope that I'll get prints with smooth tones and harder-to-see
dither. But what gives me pause is my current large quadtone printer,
a 3000 with FSN inkset. The 3000 gives very satisfactory prints with
the Piezography/R9 plugin. With Quadtone rip, prints are almost as
smooth, except in the highlights where details that are easily seen
with the plugin are gone. That's why I'm obsessing over what to
do...just go with an affordable MIS solution like UT, or would I get
substantially better results with K6 at $120/pint. I worry that I'll
spend 6 times 120, and still not get adequately smooth results. 

Are people happy with the 7500 running 4 shades of black + toner?

For a UT solution, developing my own profiles with QTR: Do you think I
could (save a bundle and) get away with keeping three of the six G6
inks now in the printer: keeping the matte black; and keeping the cyan
and light cyan as toner; changing out only the C M Y in favor of 75%
50% 25% UT?  --John