Similar to what has been stated, my take on it is:
Table- learn and discover what basic sound quality the three drive types offer and to which you gravitate towards ( belt, idler, DD ). then get the best ( and best built ) you can now you have a foundation piece.
Tonearm- ditto above but for the three main tonearm types ( unipivot, gimbal, linear ). I would add the additional use/ handling factors for uni and linear in terms of comfort of use. Now out this on hold a bit and go to cart...
Visit carts is same way and circle back to tonearm when it comes to creating a happy tonearm/cart pair.
While everything matters I agree that cart is the best place to skimp as you will be replacing it at some point :)
Lastly phono preamp. This is hard as really good phono pre’s are expensive...but there are value leaders in the under $5k zone already well discussed here. Now you have a ’sound’ from the table/arm/cart start to demo phono preamps...
Have fun!
Table- learn and discover what basic sound quality the three drive types offer and to which you gravitate towards ( belt, idler, DD ). then get the best ( and best built ) you can now you have a foundation piece.
Tonearm- ditto above but for the three main tonearm types ( unipivot, gimbal, linear ). I would add the additional use/ handling factors for uni and linear in terms of comfort of use. Now out this on hold a bit and go to cart...
Visit carts is same way and circle back to tonearm when it comes to creating a happy tonearm/cart pair.
While everything matters I agree that cart is the best place to skimp as you will be replacing it at some point :)
Lastly phono preamp. This is hard as really good phono pre’s are expensive...but there are value leaders in the under $5k zone already well discussed here. Now you have a ’sound’ from the table/arm/cart start to demo phono preamps...
Have fun!