Was upgrading your light actually worth the money?

I've been running a cheap blurple LED in my 2x4 for about two years now. Plants grew, I got bud, life was good. But I keep reading that a proper quantum board makes a noticeable difference and now I'm second-guessing myself. My wallet is already nervous.

I'm looking at spending around $200-250 on a mid-range QB to replace it. Wondering if people here actually saw a real difference when they upgraded, or if it's one of those things that sounds huge on paper but in practice you're like... eh, maybe a little better. I ran Blue Dream last cycle and the yields were decent but the density left something to be desired.

Did you notice the difference right away or did it take a cycle or two to really show up? And did you have to adjust anything else, like your feeding, once you made the switch?