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Turntable versus tonearm versus cartridge: which is MOST important?

Before someone chimes in with the obvious "everything is important" retort, what I'm really wondering about is the relative significance of each.

So, which would sound better:

A state of the art $10K cartridge on a $500 table/arm or a good $500 cartridge on a $10K table/arm?

Assume good enough amplification to maximize either set up.

My hunch is cartridge is most critical, but not sure to what extent.

Thanks.


bobbydd

Showing 1 response by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
6,446 posts
 
@millercarbon. “Put your money into table and arm. Then cartridge.”

+1

I really had to think about this. I have owned only four or five turntables and twice as many cartridges.  But MC is right… every one of my “wow, that is incredible” moments have been the turntable / arm changes (I don’t buy arms separately), never a cartridge change. 
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