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Relative Spending on Turntables and Cartridges

It seems conventional, at least at the low to mid-range of equipment, to spend much more for a turntable than for the cartridge. I'm wondering about the logic behind that. It seems to me that, once you've spent enough for a well-made turntable that with a good motor, sufficient weight and torque, and a solid tonearm that a cartridge upgrade is, relatively speaking, more valuable than a turntable upgrade. For example, I have a Rega P3 that typically comes with (in the package version) and Elys II cartridge. On mine, I know use a Rega Ania cartridge, which, as upgraded by SoundSmith, costs a bit more than the turntable. But the audible return on that investment has been enormous. I also have a Pioneer PLX-1000, which I initially used with a Sumiko Pearl cartridge. I've since upgraded, first, to a Hana EL, and subsequently to an Ortofon Quintet Bronze. Each upgrade improved sound quality (frequency response, transparency, detail, sound stage, etc.) dramatically. Perhaps I'm not getting everything out of the Bronze or the Ania that I would hear if I used them on higher-level turntables. But in terms of bang-for-the-buck, I've reached the conclusion that it is smarter to budget 50% each for cartridge and turntable than the prevailing norm of 75% for the turntable and only 25% for the cartridge (at least once your total budget reaches around $1000. Your thoughts?
dancole
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Dan, cartridges are expendable items. They wear out. A turntable can last a lifetime if taken care of. So, it makes sense to get the best table you can knowing that you will upgrade the cartridge in the future. Good cartridges always sound better in good arms.  
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
The logic is, it depends on your goals and where you want to be. What you are doing is perfectly fine- obviously, since its working out so well for you. What you won’t know until you try, a lot of money in a much better table and arm pays equally great dividends. The difference being a cartridge pretty much always becomes a consumable- it wears out- while a better table/arm is almost a forever thing.

A lot of us like me have had the same table and arm for like 15 years. The most I have paid for a cartridge is $1800 for a Koetsu. My table is like three, four times that.

So I am a very long term oriented audiophile. The only cartridge I have seen that I would spend big money on is the Soundsmith Hyperion, or even better Strain Gauge, because with the stylus replacement cost those are practically forever components.

But really, what you are doing is fine. Just don’t kid yourself that there aren’t massive improvements to be had with a better table and arm. You would be shocked! Audio is what we call a target rich environment. Especially analog. Hard to go wrong.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Prices means nothing, depends what you're buying. 
Once you got a nice turntable you can spend more on cartridges if you want (or can't stop). Turntable drive, plinth and tonearms normally cost more than a nice cartridge. But if you want to try a $3k cartridge on $2k turntable - why not (if you can afford it) ? Do you need an approval from somebody else ?   
dayglow
1,917 posts
 
IMO it depends how good the tonearm is. I own a Rega P9 RB1000 which the tonearm makes the P9 a standout mid-price table, I currently have a Goldring Legacy with about 400hrs on it. Started with an AT OC 9 MK2 which probably gave me over 1000 hours until the cantilever snapped after a light stylus cleaning The Goldring is a solid improvement over the AT especially with bass and overall clarity(calmness). A Koetsu Black or Rosewood would be my last upgrade on the P9 which would get everything out of the RB1000 tonearm.
dancole OP
15 posts
 
Of course, it always depends on what you are buying for the money, but for most of us it is simply not true that "price means nothing." Also, I'm not looking for approval. I'm just wondering why the convention is to spend only 70% of a budget on a table and only 30% on a cartridge.  At least in my budget range ($1000 to $3000), the convention seems questionable. I am not saying is that the quality of the turntable doesn't matter or that the cartridge is more important than the table. But if you've got a budget of, say $1200, then you might be better off (in terms of your audio experience) spending $600 to $700 on the table and $500 to $600 on the cartridge than $1000 on the table and $200 on the cartridge (depending, of course, on table and cartridge you are getting for that money).



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