A med student and a volunteer EMT student need very different things from a stethoscope.
I don't deny that you can hear mo betta with a betta scope; the point was that for 90% of all clinicians and 100% of basic EMT's, a cheap scope provides all the capability one needs. I try not to recommend that people spend lots of money on something they don't need, especially something that can easily be lost or stolen.
The Timex vs. Rolex analogy stands, because for just about anyone other than a med student an expensive scope is purely for show.
In OR's an ICU's all over, everyone uses the super-cheap disposable scopes that come in a plastic bag and have to be assembled before use. Yes the sound quality is lacking, but still they work just fine for the vast majority of what anyone needs from a stethoscope, and every RN, RRT, and MD doesn't have to lay out $150-$200 of their personal money to buy something that could easily be misplaced and everyone doesn't have a fomite hanging around their neck all day long transmitting germs from patient to patient.
I'm just an EMT and I have a master cardiology. Why? Because I have hearing loss. And for some dumb reason, I need a Rolex to hear.