I agree with you about experience and expertise, but I disagree with you about the cost of equipment.

Matching a mic to a voice is more important than the price tag associated with it. The last studio I was in put a Neumann U87ai in front of me, and frankly my voice sounded worse through it than through the 2ndhand AT4047 I have at home. Its frequency response didn't suit my voice.

Similarly the SM57 can sometimes sound better on a particular voice than a big expensive tube mic. There's a lot to be said for cheap neutral, omnidirectional small-diaphragm condenser mics in some contexts too. Pierre Sprey, who has made some of the most beautiful sounding recordings in the world, swears by (cheap) Crown PZM boundary mics.

I totally disagree that a "$5000 reverb unit sounds about ten times better than a $500 one" as a rule. You have to know what you're doing with it. A lot of the 80s hardware reverb units have come back into favour among engineers. They are really not expensive. The best reverb unit, of course, is a room with a really good acoustic.

Having said all that, I'm probably going to be hiring a bunch of Schoeps mics next week to try out a few different capsules. Can't afford to buy one, just geekily keen to test em out...