Relative Importance of Analog Components

I am in the cartridge - phono stage camp, for now. But it vastly depends on the entire chain, with low-end bookshelf speakers, I wouldn't invest in a phono stage. 

And clean those LPs, that makes a huge difference!

Putting the Quality of the Vinyl LP as a Recorded onto Material to one side, and focusing on the tools required for the extraction of the recorded media, through tracking the Groove.

The Analogue Source is quite easy to be seen as a complex chain of interfaces, it is a unification of a Mechanical, Geometric and Electronic interaction, where each individual element is requiring to achieve a certain level of precision to achieve a replay that would seem to be with a tolerable audible end product as the result.

Attempting to solely work with any one of the Three Critical Interfaces, will bring a change, and in certain cases a betterment can be detected almost immediately, if a particular discipline is accurately imparted.

There is a lot of trust to be placed in the parts attained to produce the entirety of the Set Up that will allow for a replay to take place, and the replay being produced in the eyes of some may only be referred to as being capable.

To achieve more than Capable is a intent that many carry, and the precision needed to be used, to attain what one would describe as their ideal, is commonly seen as a pursuit of a particular element and not the careful optimisation of the unification of all parts dependent on each other.

Hence, threads looking to learn about which single item is most beneficial arise.           

Within all the above, there are compromises that some are willing to accept, as the readily available convenience to experience a wider variety parts that are a Critical Interface can be a attraction.     

What ever goes on from the Stylus to the Speaker Cross Over is not audible, it is a a methodology to transfer a Electrical Signal that will then be processed at a Speakers Cross Over to create a Audible Sound.

With that in mind, it is quite important to have faith that the Speaker is delivering a Sound that does not interfere detrimentally with the Signal being processed at the Front End. 

@pindac wow, haven't felt this confused in years (and I wake up confused)

In my opinion table is the most important then arm, phono, cartridge.if you put lesser value cartridge in the best turntable you will be amazed how it bring out the sound compare to better cartridge in lesser value table. 
But only experience in tables that comes with their own arm.

A individual who I am in close contact with, has a Design for a Tonearm and Phonostage, which has steadily produced others through impression made to have adopted the Design and replace other owned equipment, as the result.

Through their duration of producing the Tonearm and more recently the Phon', the individual has changed Speaker Models on Three Occasions, as the Speakers in use on Two Occasions, even though quite capable, have not been able to present all that is on offer from the Designs being put into use.

It is also quite interesting that on other forums where there is a occasional discussion about this individuals work, that some who post that have adopted the Designs, have also made it known it has taken a exchange of Speaker to fully realise what they have bought into.   

The Speaker is way up in the ranking as a Tool of Importance. It is certainly beneficial as an indicator that there is an optimisation of the unification of a Mechanical, Geometric and Electronic interaction at the Front End is in place.

The Speaker is the Tool that enables the audible experience to be encountered, all that occurs prior to the Speaker carrying out its role, is just a preparation for the Speaker to produce Sound and enable a Judgement of the Quality of the Sound being produced.

The more unadulterated and correct the Sound seems to an individual, the easier it is for the individual to make a subjective assessment of what they believe is a contributing factor from upstream to the impression being made. 

As a HiFi enthusiast, I am a listener of a recorded medium produced to become sound,  I am not a observer of a selected assembly of parts functioning.

As a individual wanting to listen, knowing there are disciplines required to optimise the function of the assembly of parts to get a improved sound is beneficial. Practicing the disciplines to create a optimised function and adopting parts to improve the optimisation is also undoubtedly beneficial.

 There is no point having the ideal tools in a kit, and then only conceal their real capabilities, as one does not know how to use them and extract their full potential.

Even worse if one Tool is believed to be the only Tool required.