I am also in the minority in that I believe that the tonearm contributes more to ultimate sound satisfaction than the drive unit or cartridge once a certain high level of overall quality and set-up is reached. Put differently, assuming that the foundation for the turntable is fundamentally solid, that the plinth is well chosen for the drive unit, that the drive unit has no glaring flaws, the choice and selection of the tonearm is the most important, critical aspect for overall sound.
I have used this example before and it is an example that virtually no one would ever implement but, perhaps, me. If one were to take the highly lauded Merrill-Williams Gem Dandy turntable and mate it with any Reed tonearm and virtually any of the many good but moderately priced cartridges properly set up, I can assure you the sound would compete with anything else available.
Besides Pure Fidelity, Merrill-Williams's range of turntables are worth a look.