The advantage of buying cheap is that if it doesn't sound good you can sell it on again easy. But buying cheap doesn't have to mean cheap quality Chinese crap, it just means you have to scope for bargains. PRS cones are not cheap, they cost NZ$700 for a set of comps. If I was paying store prices for any of this stuff I would quickly surpass what I paid for the car.
New Zealand doesn't ****, we just don't have as much diversity of brands on offer as in the States. Can still get top grade gear here though like the solox and strokers or Alpine's F#1 series.