Curious .. What is the compared price of your tt vs spkrs

It's not like there is a directly proportional relationship between price and sound quality.  You can have an under-performing front end or speaker and the other end of the chain might be an over-performer that functions at a much higher level than it should at the given price.

That is going to tend to blur results on this sort of survey.

My systems were for years comprised of well assembled front ends and less expensive but over-performing speakers (Vandersteen,, Energy, Spica).  My ratio then would have been about 4:1  in favour of front end.

After a recent upgrade my cost ratio has reversed to about 2:1 cost, speaker to front end (turntable, arm, cartridge and phono preamp).

$20k Shindo 301 TT paired with Altec 846A Valencia's acquired used from the original owner's son for $1200.  I wouldn't call it an upgrade but perhaps down the road (after I get into my final NorCal digs), I'd consider acquiring a pair of Devore Orangutan O/96's while keeping the Altecs. 

It appears that most of us agree that underperforming front end doesn't cut it, no matter how good the speakers might be. Or amps for that matter. 

Interesting hearing the comments ..Raul .. I am a musician so i think that way, just me .. Room acoustics play a huge role no matter who says what period! Sometime playback can be epic with less pricey spkrs or equipment . Often it corralates with volume your hoping to achieve . I dont know how far back to some i go but at 17 (1985) started really getting serious with my audio gear and guitars for that age i bought my first magnepans with a luxman amp then began selling high end gear, and was a live sound engineer for some big names in the 90s .. Ive seen acoustics wreak havoc on sound .. Its al about balance and unless you roll upgrades are gradual ..

Yeah, first things you do are room acoustics and wall current.
Oleschool, I once heard Paco de Lucia perform in a great concert hall playing incredible custom Conde flamenco guitar. Now that was a sound I will never forget, not to mention the music.