I went through a similar progression. Have been shooting since very young and pop always had good equipment - mostly production 700's and M70's. When I started earning my own way, I started buying what were considered boutique production and semi custom rigs. Most were OK, but it felt like I had a higher occurrence of issues to be dealt with, and I didn't find increases in accuracy to be concurrent with increases in price.
Set up a few Tikkas for friends and co workers, and I could see that it was a sound design with excellent workmanship. I'm to the point that, when COAL fits, I have been building rigs on pretty much exclusively Tikkas for quite some time.
Not to say that there's not other good rigs out there, just that I've pretty well quit looking for something better. I should qualify my opinions by giving use context: Long range to 1K for fun and practice for hunting. 1,500 rounds per year average. No serious competition beyond friends or local clubs. Main considerations are functionality and big game hunting accuracy.