My dad 's Home studio is a technical joke. Aside from his dat and 2 track Reel to reel. every thing was bought at radio shack. Mics, Monitors, mixer.
if I could get the final quality that he gets from my Mackie, AKG, CAD, Alesis, KRK , and every thing else I pour my money into. I would wouldn't need to study these boards to learn this craft.
Point is, experience, creativity, and talent are your best tools.
After WWII the Allies took all of italys film making gear. some of the film that came out of italy following the war is great.
I think it would be intersting to hear recording comparisons of 4 track casette recording to whatever your tool of choice is today of the same song.
I did some great work on my old 424. limitations really force you to think.