I never went from a $5K to a $10 cartridge but I did go from a $5650 Dynavector XV-1s to a $12,995 Lyra Atlas Lambda SL (both have since gone up in price). As great as the XV-1s is, there's no contest. The Lyra spanks it in every category, and then some. But you also need to have the turntable, arm, and phono stage to take advantage of the improvements. I also have the Atlas Lambda Mono on my second tonearm.

Well, you need a $30k phono stage, $30k table and $15k tonearm for that Etsuro to make full sense, I suppose.

Is there usually a dramatic difference between $5k and $10k cartridges ?

Yes, the cost.

They will inevitably have different materials and design choices that ensure a different sound. Which one you like better may not be correlated to the higher price. If you’re talking about upgrading within one brand line then it’s a safer bet that the higher cost one might sound “better”, but even that’s not a 100% guarantee.

But most 5k and 10k carts will in fact sound pretty great overall; it will be hard to find a dud. At the very top tier prices the manufacturer can take extra special care selecting only the very best coils / motors - I think that’s what Koetsu did with the Blue Lace model, and it does sound better than other stone models to me.

It costs at least $10,000 retail to make a cartridge. Just as it costs at least $200,000 for an automobile. Anything less expensive is merely compromise for the poor.