I have the Elna Excellence. Paid $2200 3 months ago. Love this machine: 11" throat great for quilting, easiest machine to quilt on that I tried, nice even stitches even though it doesn't have stitch regulator, knee lift, comes with all the feet you need plus a built in walking foot, wonderful storage area to hold all attachments, needle up/down, auto thread cutter.
The only thing it doesn't have is low bobbin indicator.
The only thing I don't care for is the needle threader seems kind of chintzy but it still does the job. Janome makes a machine that is a twin to this and maybe it's needle threader is better.
Definitely give this one a try!