I have a (smaller) pile of Takumars and other M42 lenses that I use on my Pentax K-1. I bought the camera specifically for that purpose and I have zero regrets. Some images from the K-1/Takumar combo:
Red Light (Super Tak 85/1.9),
Kiss Kiss (Super Tak 50/1.4),
Skyline (Super Tak 200/4 on a Pentax K-7). My 500px profile also has some K-1 portraits with Soviet M42 glass.
Any Pentax DSLR ever made will adapt m42 lenses perfectly. If you have wide Taks you probably want full-frame to take advantage of their focal lengths without cropping, which means the K-1. Sony full-frame mirrorless is another option, and a very good one if you're interested in adapting any other mounts' legacy glass. You can put damn near anything on a Sony with cheap adapters.
Are the results "better" than good film scans? It depends on what you're looking for. Film has a look all its own, but: Film can't shoot at 6400 ISO with grain that doesn't show up in prints. Film doesn't offer the same kind of creative post-processing options that raw files do. Film doesn't offer instant processing and feedback. M42 lenses aren't image-stabilized on film.
There's a place for both, but I can take photos on the K-1 that would be much, much more difficult to capture with film, and a lot more of them.