I did the same research last fall and fell in love with the Bernina (I believe it was the 820 but may have been a 830) that had about a 12" throat area. Next was the Janome 7700
(Horizon) with 11". Anything less would have not been worth the investment to me as I had a machine with 8 1/2 inch throat.
I couldn't even come close to affording the Bernina machine so went with the Janome. Haven't regretted it one bit. Still getting familiar with the machine as it does much more than I will ever need it to do.
I have owned a mid arm quilter and hated it. It wasn't so much the machine but partly as I wanted a machine that I could sew and quilt with but I also had to be able to sit. Standing to quilt is not an option for me. I tried some of the sit to quilt machines but wouldn't have been able to sew on them so opted for the Janome. Hope this helps. It would be so nice if someone would come out with about a 14 inch throat machine that you could use as a home sewing machine and also be able to quilt on it. I wouldn't even care if I lost some of the features that the Janome has. There are many more than I will ever use. Ann in TN