I'm wanting to get high quality water stones but my want list is long and they're farther down the list.
As an intermediate step, consider getting a King 1000/6000 grit combination stone if you don't have any water stones and would like to try them out. I bought one off ebay for $47 delivered to my door. I have really enjoyed it. I kind of doubt that spending more money would help me much but ymmv. I'd recommend skipping the "high quality water stones" and getting something else on the want list.
