Best investment; cartridge or line stage?

Thank you for clarifying, Elliot, but can't say that I agree with you on much of that.

Bear in mind that cartridges wear out. Everything else, not so much. Ralph is of course, correct: no cartridge will sound its best unless it is held at exactly the right angles. Only a very good tonearm can do this. And only a very good TT is quiet enough. And only a good phono stage is clean enough.

Cartridge last, IMO. YMMV

Glad to help. Since we are agreed that only a very good tonearm can hold a cartridge at the correct angles, it is essential for that tonearm to be adjustable in order to optimize the cartridge that you have (now or in the future).

In particular: vertical tracking angle of the stylus (VTA); rotating the cartridge parallel to the tonearm (azimuth); and of course, tracking force (VTF, which most tonearms do well). Azimuth adjustment is what really separates the best from the rest, IMO. I can hear adjustments down to about 3 minutes of arc on my air bearing table and arm.

My experiments show that about as important as azimuth adjustment is resonance control, or damping, as @fsonicsmith points out. You can spend big bucks on tonearms that don’t look like they’re damped very well, so beware of that. Reed has a nice comparison of tonearm materials on their site. And I can assure you, Panzerholz sounds GREAT, no matter what some of Reed’s panelists said.

An exciting time for you. Good luck!

@dogberry With my cash on the line, I did. In fact, since I couldn’t afford the best, I made it myself: turntable, tonearm, phono stage. Not the cartridges (Koetsu, Grado).

Don’t see why someone else shouldn’t benefit from my mistakes. Or from the wisdom of a legend in the field (atmosphere).

@thecarpathian 

Thank you for the kind words. Most courteous.

Made some parts, subcontracted others. Turntable and tonearm, all my designs, my fabrication, subcontract much of the woodwork. The latest wands are natural fibre composites, for which I make the cores and subcontract the epoxy work. Off-the-shelf whenever possible: e.g. New Way air bearings and shafting, Igus carriages. Battery power supply is more complex than it looks, my design, layout, and fabricating. Same with power supply for the main monoblocks. Other electronics, mainly my layouts, parts selection, fabricating, and a better man's amplification schematics.

Not engineering - math and science. Now retired and learning some of the stuff my more practical father could have taught me.

@milo0812   Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water ...

Another county heard from. Everyone hears differently. I think that you should listen to other systems and other components as much as possible - but you already knew that. One last piece of advice - don't hurry! Good equipment will still be available in 6 months or a year.

@elliottbnewcombjr "don’t even listen to inefficient speakers if you know what’s good for you"

I suspect that what you mean is, "Some are so good that you will fall in love," like ESL's or Magnepans. But some could take your words as dismissive. Perhaps you could clarify?

@pindac That’s going on the back burner for now, because I’m building an active crossover for some Magnepan DWM woofers and my isobaric sub.