I personally think it really just comes down to luck with instruments I've heard and played many that are expensive but didn't warrant the price asked and others that were cheap and sounded and felt great.In the end I think it's best to aim at getting a guitar from a maker that achieves a reasonably consistent clear tone and good intonation,setup etc. across their range of instruments (Seagull comes to mind).If you can't improve your playing ability on an instrument like that regardless of make or cost then basically you just can't improve your playing ability period.