Honest question about cartridge vs. turntable performance.

Whenever I have upgraded a turntable, my vinyl system does sound better but it has been more or less depending on the cartridge.
My first good turntable was a VPI Traveler II and the sound was incredible.  After a few years I wanted to upgrade and I bought a Technics 1200GR. 
Compared to the VPI, the GR changed the sound accordingly for each cartridge-
1) Ortofon 2M Black.  Slightly more energy and dynamics, speed stability and pitch were greatly improved.  Sound was more neutral and transparent.  Overall a good improvement.  
2) Dynavector  DV20X2L.  I did not notice that much improvement with the Technics.  The Dynavector was an excellent match for the VPI. 
3) Audio Technica ART9.  Absolutely huge improvement.  Stunning. 
Bass was lower, much better defined and had more impact with the GR. 
Dynamics and drive were much improved.  Speed and attack increased dramatically.  An incredible combination.   

@mikelavigne 

excellent post on “ ratcheting of price levels”
I missed your interpretation, originally

for each price level ?  Would you be able to give an example of each? And/or your thoughts 

i did not notice any notes on phono preamp options ?  And/or your thoughts 
Well done, and well summarized on your opinions 

jeff  

Ivor Teifenbrun's Linn HiFI Hierarchy is still begin debated 50 years on.  The founder of Linn developed the marketing gimmick that the turntable was the most important part of a sound system, followed by the arm, then cartridge, electronics, with teh speakers being the least important. Why?  Because he owned a machine shop and turntables were the only audio component he could build.  I bought into this for a brief period when I decided to upgrade from a Dual turntable with Ortofon cartridge to a Linn Axis table with Linn Basik arm, using the same cartridge.  The change made NO difference whatsoever.  I had tapes (yes, casette tapes) made from the Dual, that I played alongside the new Linn, so definitely no difference.  I took my new rig to my friend's house who had a Dual table with a much nicer cartridge (Goldring, I think), and it smoked my table - more natural, more detailed, more spacious.  So no, the table isn't always more important than the cartridge.  This is not to say the table is never the limiting factor, I'm sure it can be, and I'm sure given a balanced system, table improvements can make a significant difference.  But the idea that once you have a reasonable cartridge, the biggest improvements will come from table upgrades until you've spent big money on the table seems nonsensical.

mijostyn I'm not sure the people at AMG or Brinkmann share your opinion regarding DD turntables.

As for the question in the title - of what is more important, first its the table as this is the fundamental of your analog system, than it's the tonearm and than the cartridge. also, don't forget a good phono stage, you won't believe how much difference it makes. 

@honest1  You had a poor experience with your Linn Axis vs a Dual. Unfortunately that does not lead to a universal declaration, it leads to a 'humble opinion'-- like you just gave.