I can throw another wrench into it. Are you "trying" to get a machine that will really do FMQ? If that's kind of your end goal...for the $5500 price tag I saw...I'd go buy a floor model Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen (saw one the other day for $4000) and then spend the $1500 on a machine that will do fantastic "sewing" stuff. Why? There really is a big difference between a domestic and a sit down long arm. Thread breakage is real. Tension issues are a mess. A simple Sweet Sixteen/Tiara 3/Platinum 16 will truly quilt beautifully and without the massive headache. It just works.
Then if you need to go back and forth between machines for something (Like stitch in the ditch), it's so nice. Not to mention having to change all the settings back and forth, put the slider on, hold your mouth just right...and you still only have 11ish inches of space to move.
This is my own personal issue as well and I finally bought a Platinum 16. It's amazing. My FMQ has improved by leaps and bounds in the 3 weeks I've had it. I've finished 1 quilt already and about to start another. That's just a lot of money to try to have "one machine to rule them all".
They keep making these machines bigger and bigger but I'm beginning to wonder about that. My own Pfaff 5.0 with a walking foot (IDT). I saw it on eBay for $600 the other day. Just saying...for the money...the sit down long arms are amazing and if...at the end of the day...that is the goal? Maybe put the bulk towards the machine that specializes vs the machine that wants to do it all but can't do everything perfectly.