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Honest question about cartridge vs. turntable performance.

I’ve been a vinyl lover for a few years now and I have an ortofon black cartridge setup with an mmf 5.1 turntable with acrylic platter and speed controller. My question to all the vinyl audiophiles out there is this. How much difference does a turntable really make compared to the cartridge? Will I hear a significant difference if I upgraded my turntable and kept the same cartridge? Isn’t the cartridge 90%+ of the sound from a vinyl setup? Thank you guys in advance for an honest discussion on this topic. 
tubelvr1
jperry
2,477 posts
 
Your point is?

danvignau513 posts08-21-2020 11:56amCalculate how much your phono stage, head amp stage, arm, table, isolasters, and cartridge, etc. cost. When you spend that on a CD player, your opinion matters. For a good comparison, check our Sheffield's D to D LP's and the CD's of the recording sessionsthat followed years later. I have Thelma Houston, Pressure Cooker. I am not a fan of the music, but the comparison is worth the price of admission.
grk
246 posts
 
I found this from the Origin Live website while researching their tables and arms. See bottom. The phono stage is the biggest upgrades, followed by the TT.

https://www.originlive.com/hi-fi/tonearm/award-winning-tonearm-conqueror/

"Due to carrying out a great deal of listening to vinyl replay, we have had the luxury of listening to a vast array of equipment. The following information is intended to offer some help and advice on the many options and choices available with regard to upgrading priorities and allocating your hard earned budget.

We are constantly asked questions about upgrade paths along the lines of:
– “How much should I spend on my cartridge?”
– “Is it worth having my arm rewired for a budget turntable?”
– “Should I upgrade to the advanced DC motor kit or upgrade the tonearm or turntable?”
– “What level of performance does the DC motor kit add to my deck?”

Assessing priorities to upgrade your system is not always easy and so we are providing some guidance from the experience that we have acquired over the years. Much depends on your the level of performance you aspire to, coupled with your future plans (if any) and budget. For this reason the following guidelines are a matter of opinion and judgement.

Depending on the deck, the DC motor kit will add approximately £700 worth of performance to most turntables relative to the cost and performance of turntables. This makes it a very worthwhile investment, especially as increasing the performance of a turntable is vastly more effective than cartridge upgrades.

The motor upgrade is usually as effective as upgrading to a Silver tonearm but this depends on the quality of your current turntable motor drive.

The upgrades below are scored in terms of performance relative to one another.

Our Opinion on Component SignificanceComponentPerformance Significance:
23%Turntable
17%Tonearm
5%Cartridge
25%Phono Stage
15%Amplifiers
15%Speakers

sokogear
1,106 posts
 
I think it depends on the total price of the system, but in up to $15-20K systems, I think the allocation of 70% for the entire source is right on the money. I might reallocate within the.70% maybe (I am an arm guy), but the amp  & speakers can only deliver the signal they are given.
529proaudio
18 posts
 
Our Opinion on Component SignificanceComponentPerformance Significance:
23%Turntable
17%Tonearm
5%Cartridge
25%Phono Stage
15%Amplifiers
15%Speakers

Spending only 15% of your budget on speakers is almost certainly going to set you up for disappointment!  In reality, one must spend WHATEVER it takes on the speakers (and possibly sub-bass) to get a great sound in the room irrespective of source.  Without that, you are just wasting your money on improvements that you can't hear and/or certainly can't fully realize.    
optimize
164 posts
 
If I were selling like PS audio:
Instead for:
Our Opinion on Component SignificanceComponentPerformance Significance:
23%Turntable
17%Tonearm
5%Cartridge
25%Phono Stage
15%Amplifiers
15%Speakers


As a another example PS Audio should maybe say something like this:

Our Opinion on Component Significance Component Performance Significance:
5%Turntable
5%Tonearm
5%Cartridge
25%Phono Stage (PS Audio sells stellar phono)
25%Amplifiers (PS Audio core business)
35%Speakers (to boost the chance when ps Audio release their long awaited speaker line)

That seems reasonable if looking from the point of what the specific company are offering and selling..

And not from the best sound for the money from a consumer perspective..

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