I’d save up and do the table. It is true you will get a bump with a better cartridge. I guess it depends on your personality. I would rather make big moves as opposed to frittering away money doing small incremental moves. Moving up a level will net a better table / tonearm and cartridge. My rule of thumb is always make moves 2x in investment. If you do your research then it’s going to be a big sonic gain.
This is traditionally how I’ve approached things. Wait for bigger upgrades and shoot for 2x for a meaningful impact. But now the impacts are getting larger, lol.
If I did go up in table I would probably wait until I could go 1200G with an MC cart in the $1500ish range. I’d want to demo other tables before committing (VPI, P8), but I’m very drawn to the seemingly simple ownership experience of the 1200G. I also believe a 1200G2 may be coming down the line with the updated power supply, but I’d imagine that would likely push the price to $4500. Not a deal breaker, but more time to be patient to get there. But could be just a year give/take if I can stay focused. I did just make some updates in the chain that would carry over to a new table as well.
I’d like to get a new streamer/dac at some point too, but I’ve been very focused on the analog end lately. I have decided I'm going to wait until SWAF comes to Dallas so I can have some cash in hand if anything strikes me there as well. Fingers crossed I can see/hear some of this more affordable gear there.
