importance of phono cartridge

Regardless of price, here is my 2 cents on TT setup:
A good TT/Tone arm combo is critial.
A good cartridge will reveal even more.
A good phono cable will give you max signal transfer and shielding.
A good phono section and step up combo will be even more astonishing and gives you a better transparency.
A good ground will reduce most of the hum.
A good TT is stand will improve the stability and balance of the playback.
A good TT/cartridge setup man will make sure that everything sounds right.

Everything else would be plug and play : )

There would be a big improvement moving from $1600 TT/tonearm setup to $5000 TT/tonearm setup.
i.e.
An audiophile entry level table like VPI scout with RB300 tonearm is no match for a Basis 200, Nottingham space dec, SOTA Cosmos, Gyrodec SE, VPI HW19-IV with JMW-12, SME 309, V or Graham 2.2 T setup.

As far as cartridge goes, matching is always critical. A $7500 clear audio or Koetsu cartridge doesn't promise you the best you can do. Know what each cartidge can do for you first before commit to the big investiment.

Phono cables do make differences. Try them all if you can and pick the most suitable for your setup.

Phono stages and step up devices are tricky. The only way to find out is either with fat wallet or go with reference phono stages and move on from there.

Grounding and TT stands also play some role here. Make sure the stand is all leveled. Material choice, weight load stress, stand height, and placement of the stand is just as important. Vibration isolation is critical here.

Last but not least: If you can, get someone who is extremely knowledge to guide you and examine and go over your setup.

Now you can sit back enjoy the music and get up to change the records.

Doug Deacon nailed it. Need to offer no more.

Doug: "reference caliber mediocrity.' Truly poetic; I don't think even Oscar Wilde could have said it better!

Just to clairfy, I did not mean to indicate that a disproportionate ammount of money spent on any single item is a good idea.

Doug is correct when he says that the TT/arm/cartridge need to be viewed as a whole. At least I think that's what he said! None of the parts can opperate seperately, but they are individuals. My proportions are similar to Dougs:
TT Sota Cosmos= $5450
Arm TriPlanar- $3900
Cartridge Zyx Airy 3x- $3000 (?) not exactly sure of price. Dougs cartridge is better!
cable to phono stage- Purist Venustus $1700
Phono - Pass Labs XOno $4200

If the table is not stable and speed control varies a great arm or cartridge will not overcome these issues. If the arm resonates or is a lesser match for the cart or table the two others can not make up for these problems.

The only real world solution is to buy the best of each that you can afford to buy. Keep in mind that a TT or arm will not wear out as quickly as a cartridge, so if you're planning to build a system around the cartridge, know what you want, but buy it last.

Turntables and arms last indefinately, cartridges maybe 1000 hours +/- depending on quality...

Great post, Dougdeacon! Very little that I can add; but to further strengthen the point, let's look at the issue of wow or speed stability. One of the biggest strengths of superior turntables is their very good, in some cases almost (and I stress almost) perfect, speed stability; conversely, one of the main problems with lesser quality turtables is their less than adequate speed stability. We tend to think of wow as obvious fluctuations in pitch, but as with most things in audio, by the time the problem becomes obvious, you can rest assured that it's been there to a lesser, but probably no less important degree. Very, very subtle speed instability affects soundstaging, image stability, bass tightness and depth, and pacing. In fact, while I am no engineer, and others might have a more technically rooted explanation, to my ears, the reason that CD playback is often sited a having superior bass performance than vinyl, is that it has absolutely perfect speed stability; the one musicality related area where CD has it all over vinyl. Anyway, the point is that no matter how good or expensive the cartridge is, it can not negate the ill effects of speed instability.