Better cartridges are always a plus with any well designed modern turntable and price is no indication. I would feel perfectly comfortable putting a Lyra Atlas in a Thorens TD 1600. However, it also depends on the rest of the system and again price is no indication. Most important is a high definition loudspeaker. Some speakers can appreciate the difference a cartridge makes and some can not.
Cartridge to turntable price ratio
How much do you spend on a cartridge before you have more cartridge than turntable. For example if you spend $2500 on a turntable and tonearm how much maximum would you spend on a cartridge? $1000? 1500?