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

@dwette Your comment is interesting; You have both stereo and mono high end. I am agonizing on upgrading my stereo cart OR add a similar value mono one. I have a lot of mono old rock an some jazz and vocals in mono. Would you upgrade from 5k to 10k stereo, or add a Miyajima Infinity cartridge (and second arm, etc.)? Thanks

Dear @inna  : First than all you need to own not only a first rate tonearm and phonolinepreamp but a true high room/system  resolution and you need to be a experienced listener of live MUSIC and that your room/system try to even that live MUSIC main characteristics..

Even than not always a 10K cartridge overall beats a 5K cartridge.

However the @dwette  expereience is a good one thatI experienced and yes the Atlas outperform the really goodXV 1s.

The other example with the Etsuro Gold is not exactly a superior one to say Umami Blue.

There are cartridges that are more consistent in that $ superiority as are the Lyra and Ortofon but severall $$$$ are overrated only because its high $$$$.

@carlsbad2  I think that almost no one , at least I can´t , can really be aware of a 5% difference in quality of two diferent cartridges about its quality level not say the 1% of your example.

Btw, I own vintage ridiculous prices that outperform 5K to 10K cartridges by a wide margin.

The OP question is not an easy one to answer with a " yes or no " because is surrounded of all the room/system links but even " everything the same " is a little complex to give a true clear winner.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

+1, Raul.

@luis223344 I have a lot of jazz/classical/rock mono records (hundreds). It was worth it to me to get another tonearm and a mono cartridge. Playing mono records with a true mono cartridge is so much better than playing them with a stereo cartridge and engaging a mono button. There’s better signal to noise ratio since the mono cartridge is insensitive to the vertical grooves that have no musical information (just adding noise otherwise).

Now whether or not it’s better for you to get a mono cartridge, or to upgrade from a $5k to $10k cartridge isn’t something I can answer, and I don’t know anything about the Miyajima Infinity cartridge

OP seems like a lot of $$$ to get a 2nd cartridge (mono) and another tonearm and possibly a tonearm cable for how many mono LPs? 🤔

If most of your listening is with stereo LPs then my choice would be to upgrade the stereo cartridge. But it's your system and choice. Do keep us updated. Enjoy your journey either way it will be fun.