You will get a great sonic improvement by investing $3.4K in either the turntable or cartridge. If you are looking long termed, I would start with the turntable ($5K would get you up another level)… but you easily could get a bigger incremental improvement swapping cartridges. Do both, even better.
Cartridge upgrade
Hi all. I have a quick question. I have a Marantz TT-15S1 turntable that I've been enjoying for the last couple of years. I am still using the included MM Clearaudio Virtuoso wood cartridge that has served me well so far. At the end of last year, I upgraded my phono stage to a Manley Chinook that I like a lot. I am looking to upgrade my cartridge this fall. I was looking at Kiseki Purple Heart NS. My question is this, does it make sense to put a $3,400 cartridge on a $1,700 (base audiophile) table? I imagine there will be some sound improvement but how much?