IMO, Bill Collings builds the finest guitars in the world, regardless of price.
I consider myself very fortunate to own two of his creations:
'99 D-1:
'11 D2HA:
Truth is, I have played a ton of Collings guitars over the years (I live just 15 minutes from Gryphon Stringed Instruments) and I have never played one that sounded "average". All were simply stellar instruments that I'd love to own!