I would say macaws are a lot different than conures, if you are looking for a quieter more family friendly bird you may want to look at green-cheek conures, lineolated parakeets, and caiques.
Sunnies are lovely and gorgeous, just make sure you can handle their high pitched screams, they definitely are not quiet.
I own an eclectus and he normally gets about 4 hours a day out to fly around.
Here is a great webby to look at species and care:
http://www.avianweb.com/