Depending on what kind of hack you want to do, there may be some value in testing it in the emulation of a different machine. You can install a universal system so as to have the exact same software in both the emulation and real hardware.

If your hack is very dependent on the specific hardware, most emulators would not be too strong a test of what would happen on a real machine anyway. (The MESS emulator is the one which places the most emphasis on accuracy.)