What is more important than the kind of gear or its pricetag is the ability to use it fully. IMO, some people will sound worse on great gear than they would on their passable gear, because they don't have the ability to use it.
Give my dad a simple mixer with bass, mid, and treble, and one reverb, and he will make it sound as good as it can. But give him a 31 band eq, compressor/limiter, and a multi fx unit and there is no way on earth he will be able to get as much out of that setup as he can with his simple mixer. Sure, the possibility is there that he can sound better on the great gear, but if he doesn't understand its workings, he will do more damage than if he'd stayed with something simple.