"You spent how much on that cartridge?"

I am British school. First you get PRAT and dynamics right and then do the rest. And to accomplish that you do need great table to begin with. And this great table unfortunately cannot cost $2k new these days. Probably starts with $4k or $5k. Then you might want to put your $15k cartridge in, not forgetting excellent arm, of course. I would not do it but there is no reason why it shouldn't sound good. 

If you need someone to validate how much you spend on your system, you’ve got some soul searching to do.  Follow your heart - if your ears want to hear a certain musicality or detail in music get yourself setup.  Who cares about someone else’s idea of when you should have a ‘good system’.  

Let's not underestimate the value (monetary and sonically) of a good tonearm. No point putting an expensive cart on a cheap tonearm. It will not sound much better. It could even sound worse because of the mismatch.