Relative Spending on Turntables and Cartridges


It seems conventional, at least at the low to mid-range of equipment, to spend much more for a turntable than for the cartridge. I'm wondering about the logic behind that. It seems to me that, once you've spent enough for a well-made turntable that with a good motor, sufficient weight and torque, and a solid tonearm that a cartridge upgrade is, relatively speaking, more valuable than a turntable upgrade. For example, I have a Rega P3 that typically comes with (in the package version) and Elys II cartridge. On mine, I know use a Rega Ania cartridge, which, as upgraded by SoundSmith, costs a bit more than the turntable. But the audible return on that investment has been enormous. I also have a Pioneer PLX-1000, which I initially used with a Sumiko Pearl cartridge. I've since upgraded, first, to a Hana EL, and subsequently to an Ortofon Quintet Bronze. Each upgrade improved sound quality (frequency response, transparency, detail, sound stage, etc.) dramatically. Perhaps I'm not getting everything out of the Bronze or the Ania that I would hear if I used them on higher-level turntables. But in terms of bang-for-the-buck, I've reached the conclusion that it is smarter to budget 50% each for cartridge and turntable than the prevailing norm of 75% for the turntable and only 25% for the cartridge (at least once your total budget reaches around $1000. Your thoughts?
dancole
If you put bigger and bigger engines into a compact sedan, at some point it won't work out as hoped.
So....

Since I spent $75,000 on my table, I’ve got to spend $100,000 on my cartridge. I only spent $11,000.

@wolfie62,

Your comment above immediately brought to mind one of the greatest scenes from the groundbreaking FX drama, "Nip/Tuck".  This clip is from Season 5 -- Episode 12: "Lulu Grandiron", which aired on February 5, 2008.  Thanks for the memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcHxlEwQmNc
Hi

Years ago I had this demonstrated to me. A dealer played a Rega based system with a nice cartridge vs a Linn with a cheapo cartridge. The Linn sounded much better - much to my annoyance as I do not like Linn record players. 

I think of cartridges as the icing on the cake, they only sing when everything else is right. 

Me, I have a 6K player with a 4k cartridge. The 4K cartridge sounds a lot nicer to my ears than my old 1.5k cartridge. 
You can spend $50 000 on a turntable, but a $1500 Victor TT-101 recapped and calibrated for about $1500 extra by JP Jones is unbeatable at any price. You can read about TT-101, people who own multiple turntables and tonearms (including some very expensive) can confirm what I’m talking about. Check this link! Add tonearm and plinth (if you need any) and you’re done, total cost is about $5000-6000 with everything.

The problem is a lack of knowledge, so most people have no idea what is a reference turntable when they are referring to Rega and similar stuff.
Hello,
If you are happy with the sound then the juice was worth the squeeze. Please stop there improving the Rega P3. If you feel you need more then buy the P6 with the regular MM cart, swap carts with your P3 and sell your P3. So many people have spent a lot of Money turning the P3 into the P6 only coming up short because the plinth is better on the P6. It’s like spending $70,000 on your Honda Civic to turn it into a Porsche. Sell the civic and go buy the Porsche. Once you buy the P6 you will be able to stop especially if you put the MC cart you have on it.