Develop a hierarchy for phono playback

Wow - the security for this website is stronger than some banks.......

Anyhow, more important than any of these is vibration control. If you want to consider that part of the turntable, then turntable is #1. SME's make it part of the solution, Rega's for sure, don't. Otherwise, see below.

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.Then importance goes down the signal processing line....cartridge/arm which need to be matched properly (I include wiring with arm), phono stage (which needs to be matched with the cartridge), and lastly turntable is the least important, assuming it spins at the right speed. It shouldn't sound like anything. Included with the turntable is the mat. Weight/clamp are more important for warped records, but would be at the bottom of the list.

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.

Hey @lewm - you didn't read the first paragraph.

"Anyhow, more important than any of these is vibration control. If you want to consider that part of the turntable, then turntable is #1." 

If you want to consider the tonearm as part of vibration control, then I guess it is number 2 in importance.

By process of elimination, cartridge/phono stage is least important, but still critically important.

If you are excluding vibration control (which is insane because it would include minimizing motor noise and drive rumble) it would then default to the signal process of cartridge (wire if you separate that out), phono stage, tonearm and then turntable (which we agree should have no sound).