whats the deal with hardware emulations

[datawrangler92]

so i keep seeing plugins that claim to perfectly emulate some $3000 analog gear and im skeptical. like sure they sound good but are they actually worth it if youre not running a pro studio? seems like a lot of hype for something you could probably get 90% of the way there with stock plugins and a little effort anyone actually A/B tested this stuff and noticed a real difference? or is it just placebo for people who wanna feel fancy. also side note if youve got a fav emulation plugin lemme know i might be convinced to try one.