I actually like the sound of the guitars I have made in Quebec that are
sub $500 over some more expensive acoustics.

I've played and owned a large variety of high end, and low end, gear, and beyond a certain price point it isn't about sound anymore. I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom worth about $2700 and I never take it out of the case because I'm afraid It'll get scratched, that guitar is a piece of art, my other electric was a $600 strat copy I got 15 years ago and it still sounds and plays amazing. I also owned a $1500 Taylor 814ce and I prefer my $300 Epiphone. My brother in-law plays custom built guitars int the $4000 range and I can till out play him on a pawn shop guitar any day of the week. Given the choice between a functional great sounding instrument that I can drag to a gig or up around a campfire or the worlds most lusted after instrument I'd go with the budget gear and enjoy the hell out of it, I bet no one ever got drunk around a camp fire deep in the Rocky Mountains with a Stradivarius and had the best time of their life.