The fiddler I play with regularly on a professional basis plays two fiddle(kept permanently in D and C tuning to fit in with different button accordions). They cost respectively(as far as I can recall) £35 and £15. The audience doesnt generally walk out of our gigs.
    Joe Venuti always played cheap pawn shop fiddles( he was always losing and breaking instruments). For sure, more money gets you a better fiddle. But it's the playing that counts in the end.