Turntable versus tonearm versus cartridge: which is MOST important?

A 100$ cart on a  10K  table is better than vice-versa !

Been there many times .

My own personal observation is that the table and arm are critical for getting the best out of any given cartridge.

I've tried my $300 grado platinum (original) on both my Denon DP-1250 with a Magnepan Unitrac 1 arm and my TNT 4 with ET 2.5 Tonearm, both thru a Herron MM input.  The Denon is a decent DD deck, and the Maggie arm is quite remarkable.  But there wasn't much of a contest here.  Soundstaging was better on the TNT, as was detail retrieval (even with the elliptical stylus), timbre, bass, highs, just about everything. Other than the bass, most of the differences were smaller, but when added up overall, the TNT fared much better.  I also tried the same experiment with a Supex SDX-1100r and an Audioquest B100, both moving coils going into the Herron MC input.  Even more of a difference favoring the TNT/ET2.5 combo.

I suspect that others may find differently depending on the arm/table combinations that they compare, but for me, a less expensive cartridge is much more satisfying on an expensive. well engineered table/arm combo than an expensive cartridge is on a more budget minded table/arm.  Expensive cartridges even more so.

An added benefit is that you will be able to hear deficiencies in the cartridge better on a better table, and that knowledge may help you in determining a future cartridge when the time comes.

It’s the most stupid point I have ever heard that a cartridge can’t perform without tonearm and therefore tonearm is more important.

Your turntable can’t work without electricity, so let’s say pure electricity is more important than everything else you plug in the power socket ?

You can’t even change a tonearm on most of the modern turntables! Those tonearms are good enough for your $200 cartridges. Look at the $150 Technics tonearm made a long time ago for $450 turntables like SL1210mk2, this tonearm is a worldwide standard and that was the most popular turntable in the world (they sold many millions of them worldwide)!


Tonearm problems solved long time ago for most of the people, this problem simply do not exist if you have a good entry level turntable, and if you have a phono stage, amp and speakers you’d better understand that ONLY cartridge with its stylus/cantilever/generator actually read the grooves. Change a cartridge (on a cheap tonearm) and you will change the whole sound, I’ll tell you more: change the stylus tip on your cartridge and you will change the whole sound.

Old SL1210 mkII is a very good example of entry level turntable that was $350 in the 90’s.

-Will you change a tonearm on that turntable or will you try a better cartridge first ?

In this situation a better tonearm will give you nothing if your cartridge is not good enough.

A better cartridge will make your system better without changing anything else! And if you will find a cartridge that you really like you can continue the upgrade path with much better results after tonearm swap or whatever in your analog chain.

@chakster, @rauliruegas, It appears the two of you are in agreement with each other. Together you probably have more cartridges than the rest of us combined. So I guess we will leave it at that. The two of you are on to something and the rest of us are hallucinatory. Gin and Tonic anyone?  

Tanqueray, please......