You've really nailed it here, imho, with your value vs. quality argument.

The issue then becomes: what is valuable to me might be complete garbage to you. That is why we need some level-headed downvote reform. It is far too easy for a whale to massively DV the 'garbage' that I find valuable, which negatively impacts both me and the content creator.

See my comments here for some suggestions on how to potentially reform the system.