This bigger, more powerful sound that you mention is, I believe, very much because of the turntable itself, not arm/cartridge, though they seriously contribute too of course. Really good table should sound that way even with modest but well-matched arm/cartridge. Put a $300 MM Goldring on Brinkmann Balance or SME 30, and it will be a hell of a sound.
Turntable / arm upgrades - what will I hear?
I bought a used VPI HW19 / Souther Linear Tracker / Talisman Virtuoso rig a while back. The seller said the cartridge had a lot of hours on it, and strongly recommended replacing it. I got a Clearaudio Maestro, but want to refinish the table (it's oak, I want it black), so in the meantime, put the Maestro on my old Dual 616Q. It sounds pretty good. For fun, I put the VPI rig in the system, and found that although the mids and highs lacked resolution in complex passages, there was a strong sense of power from the rig that is hard to describe; not more bass, not louder, but bigger. Eventually, I'll get around to putting the Clearaudio on the VPI, and I'll know for myself what's doing what, but in the meantime, I want to ask you all if the more powerful presentation is something I can expect from replacing the Dual with the VPI / Souther, or if that is more a function of the cartridge. I'm hoping I'll get the best of both, but don't really know. Is this the type of thing an improved arm & table do? I hope you don't mind me sharing my anticipation and excitement!