Five grand is a lot to waste on a $400 turntable. I believe also that if neither of your cartridges is doing the job for you, you don't have them set up correctly. Cartridge/arm set up is rather an exacting science, until you can master it, no amount of money thrown at cartridges will make a difference. I believe you are also off base with the statement that the table doesn't make a difference. I don't believe $20,000+ has to be spent to get a worthwhile difference, but a better table and arm will definitely make for an improvement.
I went from a VPI Scout Signature to Garrard 401 with a Dynavector arm, all bought used and restored and set up on a DIY basis, and using a Zu Denon 103R cart (which is a $250 moving coil with improvements by Zu Audio), is worlds above the performance of the VPI, even when using a $1950 Dynavector XX2MKII cartridge.
Nothing more to add, except that in vinyl reproduction, knowledge is king, the more you learn, the better your rig will sound.
Best of luck,
Dan
I went from a VPI Scout Signature to Garrard 401 with a Dynavector arm, all bought used and restored and set up on a DIY basis, and using a Zu Denon 103R cart (which is a $250 moving coil with improvements by Zu Audio), is worlds above the performance of the VPI, even when using a $1950 Dynavector XX2MKII cartridge.
Nothing more to add, except that in vinyl reproduction, knowledge is king, the more you learn, the better your rig will sound.
Best of luck,
Dan