My mother worked for Elna for years. The older machines are great, but about 5 years ago, they began to 'go downhill'in her words. I have my grandmothers, from the 1940s, and a new low end Janome. I had an SU for 25 years - never worked well, hated it. My sister has the slightly older one, and loves it. My GF has 6500 and loves it. I would buy a machine that feels right for you, and keep asking others about their machines. You can search the threads here about any machine! I did before I bought mine.
I am still thinking about a fancy embroidery machine, but want to wait a while, so i can see what I really need.
Take some of your sewing to the shop and see which one you like, then look for a deal.
Good luck - and have fun.