The so called top Enders

If you're having fun, don't change a thing. That's what it's all about!
If I could take a guess about what you've seen, I'd say it might be about consistency, or long range accuracy, or the lack of needing further modification to perform better.
Example: You can compete with a Discovery but, it might need some modifications to get it to perform at that level. I'm bringing my Royale to competition. I paid more for it but, It's never been tuned or tweaked since the day I got it. 
Tom

I bought a FX Wildcat because of it's reputation as being accurate out of the box, I do tinker a little but with changing o-rings but a full tune is be on my abilities for now.that is how I justified spending the 1300 bucks. and FX didn't disappoint me.

When you spend four digit prices on an airgun, you can generally expect:
Craftsmanship in the fit and finish will be much better
Quite often you get a nice piece of wood for the stock, or if synthetic it is still a robust stock, not a flexible flyer.
You can usually count on being able to take it out of the box and shoot it without having to "improve" something like the trigger or the hammer.
It will often, but not always, be regulated.

Guns in this price range are generally very satisfying to shoot.

That said, there are lots of veteran airgunners who buy inexpensive rifles like the Discovery, Urban, Gauntlet, etc because they enjoy the challenge of working on and improving them into rifles that can give the "big guys" a run for their money. I have a Chinese PCP that was one of those humble rifles out of the box, but the guy I bought it from gave it a very elaborate tune. Accuracy, shot count and aesthetic finish were all considerably improved from original, and is a really great shooter.

Whether you consider the finer rifles worth your hard earned dough, or you find you like to buy one of the more inexpensive ones and make it a shooter, is up to you.

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So I bought an urban and a bulldog and a mk2 pistol from mrodair with the idea that i could conceivably drop 1000 bucks a piece on them to make them what I want out of a pellet gun and gain the knowledge. You could tear apart a 1400 dollar investment and learn the craft but...... What if you drill to deep? What if you lap too much. Or take too much off your crown? Not a huge deal on a 200 dollar investment so do you want a perfectly consistent gun that you can compete with? Pay for a gun that has everything you want. Want the same thing but the knowledge too? Id suggest getting a huma reg for your urban and a depinger maybe a charlie da tuna trigger and start modding and having fun. Btw I dont even know how to make that mrodair mk2 better than it already is. 

"Raden1942"So I bought an urban and a bulldog and a mk2 pistol from mrodair with the idea that i could conceivably drop 1000 bucks a piece on them to make them what I want out of a pellet gun and gain the knowledge. You could tear apart a 1400 dollar investment and learn the craft but...... What if you drill to deep? What if you lap too much. Or take too much off your crown? Not a huge deal on a 200 dollar investment so do you want a perfectly consistent gun that you can compete with? Pay for a gun that has everything you want. Want the same thing but the knowledge too? Id suggest getting a huma reg for your urban and a depinger maybe a charlie da tuna trigger and start modding and having fun. Btw I dont even know how to make that mrodair mk2 better than it already is.

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If you install a reg you won't need a depinger.

I have what is considered to be high end spring guns and a lowly ended PCP next to one that is top of the tops.
The Gauntlet needed hours of TLC to make it a good shooter. The barrel was scrubbed with JB Bore Paste and there was tons of experimenting to stop the POI shift that seems to be inherent in the Gauntlet. At least two barrel bands have been created for it that couple the shroud to the air tank, which itself moves around a bit. I found that adding a spring to the moderator at the bore end did a much better job to lock that barrel in place. Also adding steel support bars from the receiver to the shroud also assisted keeping it stable.
Then there was pellet choice. JSB Diablo Exacts came out the winner there. Now the trigger. Lots of polishing and adjustment to make it the best single stage trigger I have ever felt on an air gun. Adding a Jefferson State tuning kit upped the anti a bit too.
All this made it a pretty much one hole gun at 40 yards., but even then, it is sometimes not super consistent, a lot better than out of the box though.

Now comes the Daystate Wolverine "R". Beautiful to look at and a one hole gun from shot #1. Even still, not the trigger I considered perfect and a gun at this price point should be perfect in most every way.
Lot of polishing, a slightly altered spring or two and some time with the multiple trigger adjustments cured that.
Started with H&N Barracuda pellets and never had to look back.

So you gots to make your choices. If I ain't tinkerin' I ain't havin' fun. The Gauntlet is a tinkerer's dream, the Wolverine is a tinkerer's scary place cause if you blow it, it will cost ya BIG.

My first pcp was the benny wildfire. Fun to shoot for 130 clams but not goi g to ever cure what ails it. My next is the Hatsan AT44-10. I ordered one but it was missing all the accessories. The tank was full so I tested it with open sights and it is grouping at 2.75 inches. Replacement is arriving today (no the seller wouldnt send just the missing accessories but insisted on send a whole new rifle). Lucky me so I can shoot the replacment and keep the best and send back the rest. I chose .177 for 2 reasones. They are incredible cheap to shoot and the cost on the smaller caliber was $75 cheaper (that buys a nice scope or a ton of pellets) I only paid $248 for the rifle on sale so cheap is the name of the game for me. Hatsan are very adjustable and have a few bolt on mods that wont put you in the poor house. It is all about having fun and enjoying what you got. Truth be told the dead pests around my yard and the paper targets have never once complained about the caliber or the cost of any of my air rifles.

My first PCP was a Marauder kit for something like $465. Shot it for about 5 years and really enjoy shooting it. Plan on keeping it for a very long time. I picked up an Impact and there really isn't any comparison with the guns. Marauder good trigger, Impact, Fantistic trigger. Marauder, pretty accurate, Impact, incredibly accurate. Impact, regulated, easy of cocking, just a wonderful gun. There's a world of difference between the high end guns and entry level.