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When you talk about the quality of products you need to consider two aspects, one is objective and the other subjective.
If you buy basic brush at Walgreen's and it sheds like crazy each time you use it and the 10th time you use it the puck falls out and after 3 months it develops a crack in the handle I don't think anyone would argue about it being a poor quality and poor performing product.
On the other hand someone may pick up basic boar brush for say fifteen bucks and love the way it feels and lathers and looks. That reminds me of my friend who bought a Yugo when they came out and thought it was the best car in the world and wouldn't hesitate to drive cross country in it. He would laugh at folks spending "big bucks" for a different car. That car was his ultimate truth in cars.
It's all the beauty in the eye of...thing so we all need to remember no matter how long we have been at this thing and no matter how many soaps we might have used (for example) and think the Williams is garbage compared to the Castle Forbes there are plenty of guys who think the Williams is the best they ever need and for them they are right. They might even prefer it to CF and they would be justified saying that too.
Some might change their minds over time as they sample more items and some might not or have no desire to go further and they are all right.
So the ultimate truth here is that there is no universal truth for everybody. It all differs for each individual.
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All the brush talk aside, I would like to second Scott's recommendation on finding a mentor if you're having a lot of troubles. Luckily I lived closed enough to him that I was able to take up his offer to help me, and it made a big difference in the quality of the shaves that I was getting... not to mention that he honed my Henckels, gave me one of his paddle strops and a bottle of aftershave, then shared a few beers with me. Thanks for all the help, Scott!
