Develop a hierarchy for phono playback

"No matter how good any of the other front end components are, they will sound lousy if the cartridge is not quietly, solidly in the groove." And what component is in charge of keeping the cartridge in the groove? The tonearm, of course.

"and lastly turntable is the least important, assuming it spins at the right speed. It shouldn't sound like anything."  Getting a turntable to sound like nothing makes choosing a turntable critically important, it seems to me.  Most choose their TT based on how it DOES sound, not how it doesn't sound, because it is so rare to identify a TT that is colorless.

"Percentages are a waste of time. Everything is important, and evenly matched levels (cart/arm/PS) make the most sense. A $500 cartridge on a $10K table? Come on. A $5000 cartridge on a $1000 table? Come on."  Is anyone else besides me confused by this paragraph? If percentages are a waste of time, and everything is important, then why not entertain the idea of a cost mismatch?

I apologize for seeming to pick on soko; almost any comment on this subject can be so dissected.

..."the cat amongst the pigeons."  That's a good one.  Especially since a cat will often ignore larger birds.  We say "setting the fox to guard the hen house". But what is it you wish to convey about the Bedrok [sic] plinth?

I withdraw the word “worthless “.

"I would like everyone to go back and carefully re-read ghdprentice's post.  I think his logic is excellent and could form the basis for consensus.  Thoughts?"

Many thoughts are already out there, and I have not changed my opinion that assigning percentages of importance to each item in the chain may make you feel good, because you can have a feeling of having achieved something, but it's worthless, because we each seek a slightly different goal and there are hundreds of ways to get there. 

I hate this sort of thread, but I am bored.  So, tonearm, phono stage, cartridge, wires cartridge to phono only, other ICs last. Why I hate this sort of thread: Any item in the chain can screw up the whole deal.  My ranking assumes each item is at least "good", and cartridge not misaligned, although my Viv Float tonearm constantly begs the question of alignment. You do have to align it according to the manufacturer template, which places the single null point at about 90mm from the spindle. So to that extent, even for the underhung tonearm, alignment is important.  And Dave demonstrated to me most vividly the importance of "zenith", the angle of the stylus contact surfaces to the groove walls which optimally should be 90 degrees.