I have just bought a new P3 with the premounted Elys cartridge. I haven't spun vinyl in over 30 years. My last turntable was a Mitsubishi connected to a Pioneer receiver and some Bose speakers. I will now be hooking this new turntable up to a Parasound 200 watt amp, a Conrad Johnson PV-5 preamp's phono output and some Elac speakers. My question is, based on the huge difference the CJ had on the sound of everything else, is wouldn't the phono section to this preamp (or any other preamp or receiver) have a larger impact than the cartridge? If that holds true, then how can one make comparisons or recommendations based on their systems when these other variables may actually have a larger impact than the cartridge itself? I see it as an endless game of very expensive guessing.
