I don't look down my nose at anything. 80 percent of your sound is in heads and tuning, 15 percent in shell composition, and 5 percent in hardware (suspension, quality, weight, etc.).
There is some validity here. I used to gig on a 60's Japanese kit. I have no idea what wood was used in there, but it was NASTY. I got great sounds on it, though, by tweaking the heads and tuning. I did have to resupply it with higher-end hardware, though.
Although hardware doesn't necessarily contribute to your SOUND, it certainly contributes to your playing experience. I don't care how well you've tuned your Ludwig Accent floor tom, it still won't sound good if it's laying on the ground because the tom leg failed. There are also lots of arguments about 6 and 8 lug drums and how well they do or do not tune compared to a 10 or 12 lug drum...
Ultimately, I usually try to get my students to stay away from "bargain basement" sets like CB and its ilk. The Forum is about the lowest I like to go, but used Exports can be had in the same price range, with good quality hardware to boot. In my opinion, hardware is the one thing that cannot be skimped on. Heck, I quit playing drums for two years simply because my tom mount broke and I had no way to repair it.
So yes, if you throw some RIMS mounts, EMAD heads, Trick snare system, DW 9000 hardware and Istanbul Agops on your Verve kit, it will probably work pretty well. Doing it with the stock hardware, though, probably won't last. Technically, hardware may not be a part of the "drums" as you and I see them, but hardware is certainly essential to the idea that the general public has.