Aren’t the two main transducers, speakers and cartridge, the most important?

Yes, I’d say so.

Mechanical transducers are well known to be the areas where the greatest amounts of measurable distortions are to be found.

You could say the same about microphones which are often said to be like loudspeakers in reverse.

The entire world and their dog seem to have given up even trying to measure distortion in digital formats, cables and amplifiers (non tube) decades ago.

@knotscott,

"If your system has multiple colored/tinted/distorted pains, then you’re enjoying a kaleidoscope."

...which may end up with you favouring certain types of music but staying away from others.

Shortly thereafter you may even find you’re only playing a very small portion of your music collection.

Hang on?!?

I think that’s already happened to me!!

Some of my CDs haven’t seen the inside of a player for years.

No, not some of them, many of them!

Can’t even remember the last time Exile on Main St got a spin! Nor Electric Ladyland, nor The Joshua Tree...

Perhaps it unsuspectingly creeps up you like dementia?

By the time you might be in a position to realise, you’re usually too far gone to do anything about it.