My thoughts:
It’s a matter of where diminishing returns cut in most steeply, and what your budget is.
For a $5-10k setup, diminishing returns for turntables seem to be about $4k, and $1500 for cartridges.
For an under $2k setup, the figures seem more like $1200/800.
For the real pricey stuff, I don’t know.
Phono preamp prices are all over the map. I only have experience up to $3k, so you’re on your own for that. My ratios are $4k, $1.5k, $3k for table, cartridge, phono pre for 2 different systems.
It’s a matter of where diminishing returns cut in most steeply, and what your budget is.
For a $5-10k setup, diminishing returns for turntables seem to be about $4k, and $1500 for cartridges.
For an under $2k setup, the figures seem more like $1200/800.
For the real pricey stuff, I don’t know.
Phono preamp prices are all over the map. I only have experience up to $3k, so you’re on your own for that. My ratios are $4k, $1.5k, $3k for table, cartridge, phono pre for 2 different systems.