Does a turntable make a DRAMATIC difference?

The turntable itself won't make a much difference at all but a different cartridge will mostly likely do so. The turntable's job is to spin a record at a certain speed and all good ones will do that but there are many variations with cartridges.

I have on many occasions, over many years, compared the Vinyl LP Source to the CD Source.

These Sources have been experienced on my own system and on many other Set Ups.

I was not convinced of CD, being a Source I could settle with, throughout the bulk of the period I sought out these comparison experiences    

Things Change, it was recently 2017/2018 that I have introduced a CD Source into my own system as a Front End that is as satisfactory to use as the Vinyl Source.

I have been Wed to seeking out Musical Encounters for more than 40 Years, and Wed to Vinyl as one of the methods for close to 40 years. I was very late in the availability of CD to discover a method that produced an attractive to myself replay.   

Neither are equal, and neither is IMO, relating to the choices I have made, better that the other.

I have come to a place where each Source has their attractors, and each are totally capable of creating a listening experience that is wanted to be encountered again.

For myself, I am not sure if there is anything else between these two sources needing to be worked on to separate them.

I am aware when attempting to get a Vinyl Set Up to Jump in improved performance, that is noticeable, there is usually a substantial outlay required to acquire the ancillaries.

The CD Source does not, IME of using it, seem to incur comparative costs, to show an improvement. 

I could be a little wrong in my assessment of monies required, as I have not been seeking change in any substantial way for nearly five years.      

The arm and the table are significant in turns of the performance of the system.

All turntables sound different, so you may be very pleased with one and so disappointed in another. I have "wasted" a lot of money on this saga and I have reached a point where I am happy vs my digital set up. I am dragged into long listening sessions with analogue and it takes up time getting up and down and selecting records and then cleaning them afterwards.. In a world that I could "queue up " records I would prefer analogue. But we do not have that. Now ... an invention that could stack LP's on a high end system ... that would be a winner!!