I am at a point where I can get a razor very well honed from zero, I mean from the begging, creating the bevel up to stropping it. I am still learning and I always use either a naniwa 12000k, a thuringian stone or cromium oxide as a finishers but I notice little difference.
I got maybe 35 razors and I've seen and felt the difference from razor to razor, even if two razors are honed with the same stones, there are razors, when thumb testing them, they make a nice noise like when you are hitting glass very softly. I noticed this sound mainly on all the JA Henckels twinworks razors, on a Boker King cutter, a Red IMP, a C.W. HELJESTRAND, a Western bros. Manganese steel, and the last one is a COMFORT made in Germany. Of all them are full hollow, and the sound is very faint but kind of musical. On the other hand I own several Wade&Butcher razors and they are very sharp and they are honed same way as the other brands, but when shaving they are not as comfortable as the other brands I previously mentioned.
So could it be that the steel is more important than the stone? Could it be that a flexible steel is better than a very hard and stiff one, regardless of the finishing stone?