Jeff, some people can hear the differences and some can't. If you are comparing two very high quality items, there are probably minor differences between them. Virtually every piece of a system has its own sonic signature. But, there are some things that are fundamental. A tonearm must be rigidly fixed to the (sub)chassis of the turntable and have excellent rigidity and close tolerance bearings if it is going to allow the cartridge to retrieve the information properly from the record. If not, when the stylus traces the groove, some of the vibrations that were intended to move the stylus will be lost in the play of the bearings in the tonearm. Also, any play in the bearing of the spindle/platter assy. will have the same result. The order of importance in a record playback system is: Drive sytem, then tonearm, then cartridge. This is particularly critical when choosing a low compliance MC cartridge. Since the suspension of the cartridge is stiff, more energy is transferred to the tonearm and bearings. If the arm is not up to this task, it will lose some of the music. The cartridge cannot make up for this deficiency in the arm, no matter how good the cartridge is. So, applying a high priced cartridge to an inferior tonearm will not yield the performance improvement that you paid for. This is one reason why the tonearm/cartridge matchup is so important. Another is mass/resonance characteristics. But, again, if you put the best arm/cartridge combination in the world on a Rega 2, it will not sound as good as a Linn LP12 with medium priced tonearm/cartridge. This is because the turntable drive system is more important than the arm/cartridge, and the LP12 has a better bearing and suspension than a Rega 2. What is lost in the inferior bearing of the turntable can never be recovered by the arm/cartridge. This is why they make high end turntables. But if you can't hear the difference between two good tables then I wouldn't recommend spending any additional money on the more expensive one. There are some times when a more expensive item does not perform as well as one that costs a little less. You should trust your ears. But, your ears will develop a more sensitive capability when you are exposed regularly to very good gear. Then you may hear more differences than you did before.
