How could netherite be improved?

Netherite armor has the same defense as diamond, so it doesn’t feel like a real upgrade. To make it more meaningful without changing its stats, it could allow enchantments one level higher than the current maximum (for example: Efficiency 6, Protection 5, Sharpness 6, Looting 4, etc.). Enchantments like Mending or Silk Touch wouldn’t change because they don’t have higher levels. And what would this be used for? Efficiency 6, for example, could finally instaminate the deepslate with the help of a beacon; and protection 5 would make a big difference next to diamond armor with protection 4. The problem is how to implement this without making it too easy. Because of that, a new enchanting system could be created, using a special table similar to the smithing table that upgrades diamond to netherite. This new table would let players exceed the enchantment limit, but it would require a lot of experience and sculk shards, giving that item more usefulness. With this system, netherite would truly feel upgraded without changing any of its base stats.