Relative Importance of Analog Components

Dear @mijostyn  : Thank's. We can analize the thread issue asking:

which analog audio link could damage the more the cartridge signal? but this could be even more controversial between phono stage and tonearm. but been tonearm/cartridge a unity then this lets all to the phono stage as the " weak link " or more important item.

R.

Dear @dogberry and gentlemans :Could be good that all of us make an " excersice " asking our self a hypothetical question:

All of us already sold the only one cartridge we owned and now we need to look for a new and better cartridge, so we have several choices about but before we can pull the trigger at least we have to make our self 3-4 questions to be sure the choosed cartridge will be " happy " in each one audio system. Questions for our self in no order:

the choosed cartridge will be a good match with the owned tonearm? no alignment issues in between ?. Btw, I’m with @mijostyn : the tonearm/cartridge is a UNITY.

In the other side we have to ask:

has my phono stage enough clean gain to handle the cartridge? has my phono stage a wide overload range?

I think we don’t need to ask about the TT because the cartridge choice depends mainly on the tonearm/phono stage but not on the TT.

If one of those question has a negative answer then we have to think in a new cartridge choice or in a new tonearm/phono stage.

Cartridge depends 100% of those two audfio system links for that cartridge shows at its best..

For me those will be my priorities .. What do you think, which is yours?

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

Dear @dogberry  : " which of the four components has the most effect on final sound... "

It's obvious that a change in the transducer ( cartridge/speaker ) has " the most effect " but what I posted is more about quality level more than just sounds different.

You can have 2 same model cartridges that will sounds alike when in reality no two same model cartridges sounds exactly the same, always exist very tiny differences and be differences thaT YOU ONLY CAN BE AWARE AND DISCERN ON IT IF YOU OWN THE " RIGTH " HIGH RESOLUTION PHONO STAGE AND THE MATCHED TONEARM and even if you own those two audio items maybe you can't discern about because sometimes we need to know what to look for, this is that we must have a test whole proved proccesss.

The cartridge signal quality level depends ( everything the same ) directly/mainly by the Phono Stage and tonearm quality design levels. No matters what.

Discern between different and better depends of each one of us MUSIC/sound experience.

R.

Dear @dogberry  :  TRansducers always are the more important links in the audio system because with out transducers we can't listen MUSIC.

Now and taking in count that today almost no one owns only one cartridge then I think that the primary system link in alogue is the Phono Stage because is this unit the one that perhaps has the hardest work with the audio cartridge signal due that needs amplify that tiny lvelsignal over 10k times and needs to do it with very low noise and with very low developed distortions along to has a " perfect " inverse RIAA eq. that's an equalization f around 40dbs ! ! . The unit needs too all the facilities to handled any LOMC or MM/MI cartridges: it has to be universal and most be an active high gain unit with no SUT ( no pun intented. ). The Phono Stage main target most be to preserve the extremely sensible and tyny level cartridge recorded signal and I mean it: Preserve its quality. Extreme hard task for say the least.

Following with the same way of thinking the second link is the tonearm that has to be one that " accepts " cartridges with different compliance/weigth and stays inside the ideal resonance frequency.

After those links comes the cartridge where " ironically " the other two links operate as cartridge slaves.

Yes, TT is way important too but according with my way of thinking is not more important, critical yes but today TTs are really good.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.