I cannot comment on $10K cartridges since I do not own one. I think the most expensive cartridge I have is an Ortofon Verismo at $6K. But I am a hobbyist of modest means, and to be frank, the cartridges I own are usually bought carefully from the pre-owned market and sent to a service company for refurbishment. I prefer Expert Stylus or Allclear, but in the past have used Andy Kim, Soundsmith, and VAS. It is my opinion that a good tech can fit a new diamond to the cantilever, clean it, and adjust the suspension to where the cartridge is performing optimally. In the past a suspension could harden up or get spongy and render a cartridge unusable, but modern materials appear to have eliminated that issue. If I was limited to new cartridges I would not buy anything over $2K.
But what I have noticed is that cartridge and phono stage pairings offer more variability and synergy than almost anything else in hi fi. Yes we talk about speaker and room compatibility, and to a lesser extent amplifier and speaker pairings and how fundamentally different the sound is. Transducers is what is important! A cartridge is a transducer.
This morning I moved my Verismo/Schroder pairing off a BMC MCCI Signature ULN phono stage onto a Musical Fidelity Nu Vinyl and gave it a listen. I did indeed have to use a set of Nuetrik XLR to RCA adapters, not ideal but the only practical way to do this. The sound is fundamentally different, to the point where you are listening to a different vinyl experience. Richer, more textured, and introspective is what I hear. It is difficult to say which I prefer because it is fundamentally different. There is as much variance at this step as there is in the cartridges we have available.
I sometimes wonder if having multiples of analog stuff is really the best use of my hobby money. I feel that I could easily live with my Sota Cosmos Eclipse/Origin Live Agile/Transfiguration Proteus into an Esoteric E-03. I should buy another Proteus and have it rebuilt for back up and call it good. But then again, this is a hobby....