What does a tonearm contribute to the sound of a turntable?

Larry, Larry, Larry. You must be a millennial. 
I say spend as much as you can on vinyl playback and upgrade your amp and speakers too!  😉

@larry5729.   Nice ironic post illustrating the short-sightedness and lack of audio depth of much of the younger population. You perfectly illustrated how a certain segment of the listening population just isn't deep enough to appreciate vinyl.  Well done.

Don’t get sidetracked into a Vinyl vs Digital vs Tape debate... that was not the OP ?

actually you can pick a low resonance arm/cartridge system ( and they are indeed a system and yes compliance and mass matter ) by listening with no volume....

Great bearings that last and stay great for the lifecycle of the arm are imo essential.

OP that FT-3 is no slouch, let me know IF it needs a home. On a SOTA Sapphire it can be formidable, but that’s another thread..,

@tomic601 Yes, the FT-3 was a great tonearm. I just wanted something different. PM me if you'd like to make an offer and I can give you details and pictures.

The best demonstration of how important a tonearm is in musical presentation was recently demonstrated to me when I acquired a TT capable of having dual tonearms mounted simultaneously . I moved what I knew to be a very good arm to the new table and it already had a current top of the line one from the same manufacturer. Each arm’s individual strengths became noticeable as i rotated my Ortofon, Kiseki, and Koetsu cartridges between them. No matter the cartridge the better arm created a better presentation of the musical experience.