That does make sense. Blades are so personal in a lot of ways.
Gold seals are definitely not a necessity, and all of their equivalents are more expensive than other blades. And once you're on them it's really really hard to go back - the rocker is just so severe compared to other blades. Once I got over the initial adjustment (I switched from 13 year old Phantoms), my spins were 1000% times better - but for 2 months I was struggling a lot. Would my spins have improved the way they did just by going to a new version of my old (super flat) blade? Maybe. But now I'm stuck with the most expensive model (that said, I really like them now)!
For what it's worth, I'm working on Intermediate Free, Silver Dances, and Senior MITF - and I'm quite possibly overbladed, if that helps!