importance of phono cartridge

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.

What kind of TT did Oscar Wilde have, Nsgarch?

Reylon,
Good examples. Here are two more:
Teres 265/TriPlanar VII/ADC XLM Mk II ($175 in its day): sublime
H-K/Rabco ST-8/Shelter 901 or ZYX Airy: ridiculous

Nsgarch,
Oscar Wilde might not have said it better, but he would have said it shorter!

His gems are short, but some of his plays, poems, and stories were long... winded.