I’d want the best turntable I could afford to start with even if compromising on the rest, I don’t want to be changing it very often, I don’t mind swapping in a better arm and particularly cartridge later, though sometimes the arm choice is more or less dictated by it as with the Regas and Well Tempereds.
I’d add set up to the list, particularly when the cartridge has an advanced stylus shape but even with a spherical stylus it’s worth putting in some effort.