Where is the significant point of diminishing returns on hi-end turntable?

mmporsche

I am assuming from your OP that you are not someone getting back into vinyl after many years; and that you are new to it and have never had a vinyl setup ?

If this is the case it is really important to determine if you will even enjoy the experience. Listening at the dealer is one thing. Listening at home is another. How good the experience will be is based on how good the setup is, and if you are a certain personality type. It is not plug and play like digital, valuable records and your cartridge are easily trashed if you are not careful.

This is no different than learning how to drive stick and the clutch is your cartridge ....so ......are you prepared to destroy a $100 cartridge or a $2000 cartridge.

For this reason I would recommend (consider it a loaner setup) to get your feet wet. If that proves enjoyable ...go from there. Have your dealer set up a decent rig in your room and use it for a few weeks. Then you can decide if it is really for you.

With Vinyl Setup

A $3000 (table, tonearm, cart - phono stage ) set up well, will out perform a much more expensive set up that is not set up well.

Is your listening room on a suspended floor ?

Is your existing audio setup full range. Goes to 20 hz.

These two factors introduce more complications with vinyl since how the signal starts is with vibrations, resonances, .....stylus in the groove.

My 2 cents. Just some thoughts over coffee this morning. Good Luck with whatever you decide. .

I will be blunt, I want to be that guy in the Memorex ad from the 80’s that is
getting blown away by his system (my impression is he is overwhelmed by the amazing sound coming from that speaker not the volume).

that guy is listening to tape :^)

my impression is that guy is in a very hot room because there is a fan blowing to the left of the speaker (out of view)

hah hah

Does your existing digital not give you this experience now ?


(race prepped 993 here)

I think the point of diminishing returns moves along a spectrum, depending on the rest of your system, how "dialed in" it is (which is something that takes time after living with various components and getting the most out of them) and the nature of your record collection.
In the '80s, I had a Well-Tempered Turntable which, at the time, gave a huge amount of performance for the money and it was fine with a first class cartridge over a system with limited bandwidth and dynamics (Quad electrostats). When I moved to a bigger, wider bandwidth system, I changed to a more conventional, substantial table- a Kuzma Reference with Triplanar arm and a selection of good cartridges. But the revelation, for me, was upgrading that Kuzma for the XL (a high mass table) and the same manufacturer's air bearing arm (using the same cartridges), which made the following differences:
less sense of a turntable playing- no 'halo' around the sound or other artifacts that tell you a reproducing mechanism is in play;
deeper, more natural bass- sounded more like instruments than just low frequencies.
This is most obvious on good sounding records- not the "audio porn" which can sound spectacular for "demo" purposes. Once you start playing music you like rather than stuff that shows off your system, you'll hear a big difference between different records and different pressings of the same record- some will sound far flatter and lifeless in presentation than others.  When you listen to a wide variety of different records, you get a different baseline than just "demo" testing gear on a few impressive sounding records. I think this is where the differences in front end start to be revealed: not differences in overt colorations, but the ability to extract more information from the record without having an analytical sound (the reason, I think, why most vinyl lovers cling to the medium). But, the big variable, all other things being equal (which they never are)* is often the records at that point. 

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*The turntable/arm/cartridge/phono stage combination is probably the hardest to audition in the process of buying, since there are so many variables and so few opportunities to make direct comparisons. 

You'll never be satisfied.  The guy in the Memorex ad is an illusion.  There are better turntables, cartridges and phono stages then what is being recommended for you by the dealer.  If you know they exist, then you'll want to experience them.  That's the real game.

At a practical level you'll also need a very good equipment rack.  Then there's RCMs and after that the endless chase for the best sounding pressings.  It's my observation from reading the forum's that the difference between experienced audiophiles and neophytes is that the old hands know when enough is enough.  You'll probably have to learn that lesson for yourself.

whart, excellent discussion of the journey! What you describe very closely matches my experience, also.

mmporsche--That is a great value that Rushton mentioned for the Walker table. IMO, not sure there would be a better value out there for that type of price, but that is just another opinion. I do also agree with many others who commented on the weak link approach to your system. I have found many vendors over the years who let you "use" equipment  to test or try in your own system. Nothing like doing and A vs B in your own setup. I wont mention names as some people on the site dont like others getting free publicity, but i really enjoyed comparing in my own setup and room. Also, as Rushton highlighted, the selection, care and cleaning of your vinyl becomes a necessity once you get to the reference level. Nothing like losing the benefits because your records are dirty, worn, etc. 
The main advice is enjoy the ride cause the trip never ends!