To but it bluntly -- if you think the razor made a difference, wait until you try a soap..the switch to a safety razor was very cathartic for me, wish i'd done it much, much sooner. i'm still using the cheapest can of barbasol i can find though, so talk me into these soaps. not sure i'm into the whole brush and soap thing, but i'm willing to listen.
You don't have to get $40 artisan soaps. One good $20 soap will last you 100 shaves easily. A good synthetic brush is $15 or so.
The soap is a bigger game changer alone than the razor is.