Funny story.
At one time in the 90s I owned a 70s Gretsch kit which I used for live gigs, and I picked up a 2nd hand (or 4th or 5th or 6th hand) Stewart MIJ kit in blue sparkle to keep in the basement for practice. I paid $100 for the 4-pc kit including matching snare and hardware.
I was called last minute to play on a recording with a local country singer, because her drummer got mad and quit on the first day of recording. Problem was I was gigging at a local bar that week and my Gretsch kit wasn't easily accessible, plus I didn't want to drag it out of the bar for a few hours of recording, then have to set it up again that night.
So I threw that Stewart kit in the back of my car, and I stopped at the music store on the way to the studio and bought some new Ambassadors for the toms and snare, because the heads were literally 30 years old.
I set up, learned the songs, and the recording went off without a hitch. The engineer told me my 'vintage' drums sounded great, and thru the studio monitors, they sounded great to me too.
A month or so later when I got my copy of the 4-song EP, I was shocked at how good the drum sound was. When I played it for a drummer friend of mine, he said "man, those old Gretsch drums sound amazing!". I just smiled and kept my mouth shut.
My point is - drums sound the way you make them sound. How you care for them, how you tune them, how you hit them, what kind of microphones you use, EQ, muffling, etc. etc. - I've had Pearl Export kits that sound fantastic and I've had $2000 kits that sounded average.
Stewarts are awesome! MIJ kits are great if you know what you're doing with 'em!
Ken
