Is there usually a dramatic difference between $5k and $10k cartridges ?

@audio-b-dog 

Great news then that great pot is cheap... hmmm, the girlfriend could be problematic. 

I remember the Sears Silverton Suitcase Record player... circa late 1960's?

In general, ones entire collection sounds better with better sounding cartridges. As I moved from $100, to $1K, to $3K to $7K they also seemed to track in a different location and my 1960's and '70s albums nearly sounded new. I am assuming they track much deeper. I have only heard $12K cartridges and did not know the albums history, so can't comment on those. 

OP,

I agree that this proportion, in general, makes the most sense.

That is about what I have and am waiting to for the right time to make the jump.

However, a couple of my friends have put a $12K cartridge on a ~ $10K table / arm and ~$10K phono stage. The difference was very amazing... of course they had very high quality speakers / preamp / amp. So, it is just like the rest of high end audio... there are rules of thumb that sometimes can be broken.

In general, I have found if you have all really great components... sometimes you can drop in something of much greater or lessor value and the outcome is surprisingly good. But I wouldn’t build systems like this. You always want to put the odds on your side.

Absolutely. The best cartridges I have heard are the over $10K and the sound quality jumped a lot. One being the Esturo Gold and top of the line Grado... are the ones I remember. I’m probably going to buy an Esturo when I am able.