Your huge improvement from Townshend Podiums answers your own question: No. In fact we just had a recent discussion where all the really experienced vinyl guys agreed the turntable and arm are more important than the cartridge. Likewise if you notice the Podium you put your speaker on matters more than the speaker. For proof, $4k Moab on $2k Podiums total $6k sounds better than $9k Ulf. So the Podium matters more than the speaker.
We could go on all day, from one component to another, with examples. The best you can say is if your speakers or your cart are truly crappy relative to everything else then yes in that case they are your most important to fix. Generally speaking however, no. Not even.
We could go on all day, from one component to another, with examples. The best you can say is if your speakers or your cart are truly crappy relative to everything else then yes in that case they are your most important to fix. Generally speaking however, no. Not even.