I can't comment on the clarity of the vacuum filter, however we made around 35 gallons last year and swapped to a small 5" sheets filter press. I would never go back to any other method now.
Like you, we bottle around 2/3 of our product in glass so having no impurities is very important.
We reheat in an 8 gallon brew pot with a valve at the bottom. Bring to a boil, adjust final density if needed and then run the syrup & DE directly through the press and into our steam bottler. It enters the bottler right between 180 and 190 degrees so very little adjustment is needed to bottle.
At the end, we get what we can for syrup out and then roll the press over to the evaporator and run hot sap from the preheater through until it runs clear to avoid losing any sugar to the press gods.
I think I spent around $900 on the press, a spare diaphragm, an extra pack of 100 papers and delivery. It will do up to 8 gallons or more if the syrup is clean without breaking down the press. You can also remove plates if you're doing smaller batches.
2018 - 20 Taps on 3/16, Barrel evaporator with 2 steam pans. Unknown amount.
2019 - Nothing
2020 - 30 Taps on Shurflo, 30 taps on 3/16, 2x5 oil tank evaporator, 11 Gallons.
2021 - 35 Taps on Shurflo, 11 buckets, RB10 RO Bucket, 2x3XL Mason Evaporator. 4 gallons
2022 - 110 Taps on Shurflo, 77 taps on 3/16 gravity, 13 buckets to hit 200, Upgrade to RB15 RO Bucket.
2023 - 110 Taps on Shurflo, New 3/4 Mainline with 125 taps, 2x4 raised flue, Upgrade to Homemade 4x40 RO.