Cartridge Opinions - Sorry

Dear @daveyf  : You an atmasphere are taking wrong arguments to prove tonearm is more important that obviously it's not. Let me explain.

You can mount a great cartridge in a good tonearm and even that the combination can sounds bad. Things are not so easy as you stated.

poor tonearms? well really poor tonearms almost does not exist, at least the gimball ones. Even Rega is a good tonearm and has not VTA adjustment.

Cartridge per sé develops distortions coming from the tracking extremely hard task and those distortions are added by the ones developed by the TT/tonearm feedback and transmitted through the cartridge body that develops its own distortions. But the grooves tracked signal must pass through the cartridge coils/wire and through the output terminals and over there are developed distortions too. So obviously that cartridge develops distortions because the archaic LP overall medium. Even that it's the cartridge whom makes the tracking to pick up the the information of the recorded groove modulations.

A good tonearm can't help much more to that task because only can hold the cartridge and adds more distortions generated through all the tonearm construction parts and there is no perfect tonearm when almost all are not really well damped to put at minimum the tonearm generated distortions and generated feedback distortions ( vibrations, resonances, etc, etc. )

Now, we can have a great cartridge mounted in a great tonearm and even can't shows at its best if the TT/cartridge/tonearm overall alignment/geometry set up is not made it accurately.

Other than Rega all today tonearms comes with AZ, VTA/SRA, etc, etc, facilities.

Many times a cartridge sounds better in a not so great tonearm than in a great one because it's better matched to that tonearm characteristic of its developed distortions.

Cartridge is like speakers, is a transducer and this facts makes these two system links the more system important links.

Please let me know a today " poor " tonearm of the " ton " you stated.

I can mention today good tonearms: SME, Reed, Durand, SAT, VPI ( gimball. ), Triplanar, Jelco, Rega ( you can add an inexpensive after market dedicated VTA mechanism. ), Ortofon, DaVinci, Pluto, Cobra, Dynavector, Audio Note, Brinkmann, Thales, Schroeder, Linn, Townshend, Kuzma  etc. Which is a bad tonearm?

You can be sure that any cartridge performs different mounted in any of those tonearms due that each tonearm develops different distortion ( every kind. ) levels but that cartridge develops the sound that we listen trhough the speakers.

After the LP cartridge is the " source " and yes can't works with out a tonearm but can't works with out a TT too or with out a phono stage.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

@rauliruegas  Your post is one that seems to take what I posted totally out of context. ( I know you are translating into English, so I understand the ability to misinterpret my posts). 
There are clearly going to be issues with the tonearm to cartridge synergy if either one of those components has an issue with the other. To that, if a set-up is incorrect or there are problems upstream, then neither component is going to sound its best. This is not something that I was addressing in my post, and frankly should be fairly obvious to anyone that knows anything about analog set-up. 
There are a number of what i consider to be poor arms on the market, and while this may be relative in a total sense, I have experienced arms that simply leave a lot of information from the groove behind. As an example, you mention Linn arms...some of which are ok, but none that I am aware of can adjust for azimuth.The Linn Basik Plus arm was IME an arm that was totally veiled and not worthy of the table. There have been a number of Technics arms that are also not what I would consider as 'high end'. While this is of course again relative to what is available from entry level turntable/arm combos, there are simply a number of 'poor' sounding arms ( in this context ..veiled) on the market. You mention Jelco and Rega, which while they are fine for what they do, I would think that even you would admit that they simply do not compete against something like a Reed or SAT ( and they really shouldn't given the large price discrepancy!) 
Sorry, but what Ralph posted about tonearms being more important in the hierarchy than cartridges is something that I believe to be true.

Azimuth can be adjusted on ANY tonearm with detachable headshell. There are many inexpensive ($20-60) headshells with azimuth and overhang adjustment.

You don’t have to buy $5000 Reed 3p with azimuth on the fly to adjust your cartridge, anyone can do that on any cheap tonearm with detachable headshell.

The VTA is the issue and tonearms without VTA adjustment is nonsense! Manufacturing and selling a tonearm nowadays without simple VTA adjustment is disrespect.

I want to admit that every audiophile already have a good tonearm if a person is serious about this hobby. The key to a perfect sound is a cartridge (well matched to tonearm) !

You can put your Denon 103 on whatever well matched tonearm and it will remain a $300 cartridge, you can’t improve it until you will get a better cantilever and a proper stylus profile and then you will hear why cartridge is more important than a tonearm. Tonearm can’t solve the issue with that.

Compare two different cartridges on the same well matched tonearm and the difference will be huge. Simply compare that DL 103 on heavy tonearm with another low compliance MC from a different league. Then change one well matched tonearm to another well matched tonearm and the difference between the cartridges will be the same. A better cartridge is always better. Because a cartridge (and its stylus, cantilever, generator) is responsible for the signal pickup from the record groove.

This is why tonearm is second, cartridge is first (unless you are trying to use mismatched components).

Dear @daveyf : I respect your opinion but I disagree with because if we really analise what happens in LP alternative makes no sense to me ( my opinion. ) to put tonearm over the cartridge in critical importance/priority.

You mentioned Technics or Jelco tonearms that in reality are very good tonearms, problem with belongs to the mediocrity quality level of its internal wires that’s makes a paramount difference in any tonearm but we can’t ask for more for the entry level price those tonearms have.

You can mount a Lyra Delos in a stock Jelco tonearm and will performs ok and if you change it for a Lyra Kleos you will listen better quality sound levels and if you go with the Etna then the quality level of what you are listening goes even higher and all those happens in that same entry level tonearm.

Who makes the differences down there. The tonearm? certainly not but each one cartridge.

Take Ortofon manufacturer that offers 27 diferent cartridge models at diferent price levels: 27 . I named 21 diferent tonearm manufacturers and maybe exist other 4-5 that I did not remember: 21 tonearm builders.

Well, each one of those 27 Ortofon cartridges performs at a diferent quality levels and it does not matters in which tonearm you mount it you will listen those differences.

Why can you listen those differences?, because each cartridge is designed with singular characteristics of: type of magnets, coils, coil wire, suspension, different cartridge body materials or blend materials, cartridge body shapes, specs, cantilever build materials/length and shapes, stylus shapes, some models cantilever/stylus are hand selected and the cartridge hand calibrated, comes with different tracking abilities, obviously cartridge motor is not the same, different VTF, different electrical " numbers ", etc, etc.

The cartridge is the responsable to pick up the MUSIC recorded in the LP ( not the tonearm. Tonearm is hold it. ) and what we are listening is what the cartridge and its critical tracking abilities are picking-up. As better the cartridge and as better its cartridge abilities as more MUSIC information and less distortion we are listening. If we want a diferent quality level performance of what we are listening this we can solve it changing the cartridge.

Btw, do you own one cartridge and 6 tonearms or the other way around? Think on this.


Of course that if the tonearm has premium internal wire the cartridge signal information will improve it.

Tonearm is a slave of the LP and a slave of the cartridge as is the TT or the phono stage.

Nothing can be more important than the transducer and overall what this means.

I’m not saying that tonearm is not important because it’s but cartridge is a little more critical and important than the tonearm.

So for me you and atmasphere are wrong in this specific subject.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Even Rega is a good tonearm and has not VTA adjustment.

As long as you use their cartridge. Otherwise its problematic.  Good luck if you want to use a different turntable or platter pad (as they affect the sound as well).

Now, we can have a great cartridge mounted in a great tonearm and even can't shows at its best if the TT/cartridge/tonearm overall alignment/geometry set up is not made it accurately.

Some arms simply will not allow you to set the cartridge up correctly. That seems to be a fault of the arm. So this comment belies Raul's argument.

This is why tonearm is second, cartridge is first (unless you are trying to use mismatched components).

The conclusion here does not seem to be supported by the post in which it occurs. You will not get the minimum distortion out of any cartridge if the arm is unable to track the cartridge properly. This is a very simple fact with which all audiophiles are intimately familiar if they have used a turntable! I really don't get why anyone would argue the other way, unless for the sport of it...