Interesting to see two different philosophies here on whether the cartridge comes first or last.
Like loudspeakers, the cartridge does make a big difference to the character of the sound. However, that is more a matter of taste than ultimate sound quality.
I’d go with the source first hierarchy of turntable, arm, cartridge and phono stage.
The turntable if upgradeable like an LP12 could be further broken down into say bearing, power supply and sub-chassis. In the case of the LP12, the Bedrok plinth may have just put the cat amongst the pigeons.