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I'm not a framebuilder but having had casual chats with three of varying experience levels I was very interested to hear them all say almost the exact same thing with regards to tubing: it's one of the last things that they think about when building a frame. More important are fit and geometry with an eye to the intended usage.
So when you pay more for a frame with "better" quality steel almost certainly the majority of your money is going to cover the costs of everything other than the steel itself, e.g., a talented welder/brazer, R&D (at least in the form of x years of experience), etc. That said there's nothing stopping a relative novice from using whatever materials s/he chooses, but I'd rather have a Sachs/Kirk/et al. frame in 4130 than a rookie's first attempt at 953.
edit: there's a good article somewhere from years ago where a magazine writer got the chance to test something like seven almost identical bikes, the only difference being the tubing used in each. Not a scientific test obviously, but ultimately the guy didn't have a clue which was the putative best.
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nohwol
But my question is given the same geometry and tube set diameters.
What would be difference is weight and ride quality between a low quality 4130 and top end reynolds 953 frame.
The cost difference is astronomical, is this justified?
I have heard that the older 531 are very comfortable at soaking road viberation, will the newer steels be stiffer. I had a 853 that was sadly stolen I thought it was plenty light enough and lighter then many aluminium frames.