Was upgrading your grow light actually worth the money?

After two years running a cheap blurple from an online marketplace, I finally caved and picked up a decent quantum board setup last month. The price made my wife give me that look, you know the one. But I'm already seeing a difference in how even the canopy is developing, so maybe i made the right call.

My question is really for people who made a similar jump at some point. Did better lighting actually move the needle for you in terms of yield or quality, or was it more of a "nice to have" situation? I'm talking like real-world results, not spec sheet numbers.

I keep second-guessing myself because honestly my best grows under the blurple were still pretty solid. Maybe I was just maxing out what that old light could do. Or maybe good fundamentals matter more than the gear and i'm just a guy who spent too much on a light. Wouldn't be the first time. What was your experience?