Cartridges

The question makes it seem like this is a binary choice. I want the best cartridge I can afford that mates with my arm and voices in my system gracefully. I've achieved that at no small cost. As to buying premium "audiophile" records to compensate for gear shortcomings, I just don't think that way. 

My focus is on making the average record sound good. Or as good as it can. Most of the material that's sold as premium audiophile has been recycled countless times. Yes, I have multiple pressings of some records. But my aim isn't just sonic "spectacularity," another Wowzer example to show off the system. 

This means I've plunged deeply into older records, older-sometimes still living performers- lately, been on a post-bop kick, and many of the OGs were issued during the mid-'70s which was not a high point for vinyl quality. 

I have the capability to effectively clean the records (I'm not buying molested copies) and flatten them if necessary. 

But to me, the notion that some fancy "audiophile" reissue is going to compensate for shortcomings in your playback system isn't an approach I would take. 

Even for evaluation purposes, I'd use a wider range of recordings than so-called "premium audiophile."  The turntable, tone arm, cartridge, set up, phono stage and cables all make a difference in vinyl playback. Which is part of the reason it is a PITA. Tracking down records- quite fun. 

Arrogant, “it might meet your standards but not mine”.  That sounds rather cork sniffery to me.

By the way, @hotei , one inspects the cork to (1) know that the wine you are being served is the wine you are paying for, (2) to get a slight whiff of an unpleasant smell instead of a snoot-full (if it’s off), and (3) to anticipate the experience of drinking a fine wine.

In any case, it was a reasonable response to provocation. IMO

Hysteve, I once bought a cartridge that was too good for the tonearm and too good for the table, against expert advice. It was a mistake. Table matters most, because every bit of bearing noise and motor noise gets transmitted into the cartridge. The tonearm is next; it's what holds the cartridge rigidly at the correct angles, and if anything is off, the cartridge will not sound its best. And then the cartridge wore out, probably prematurely.

Next time around I did it right. My Koetsu responds to small adjustments - rarely requiring more than 7 minutes of arc. If your tonearm won’t do that, it doesn’t deserve a first class cartridge. IMO

And I wouldn't spend on premium records until I was getting the most from what I already had. @whart has published the Bible on record cleaning - that's good use of money too.

@baylinor 

Didn't mean to show arrogance, sorry for those offended. I see many posts of folks who don't even attempt to install a cart on a uni pivot and have to get a "professional" to do it for them and charge them multiple hours labor to do so. 

Thank you -  I do agree with you that unfortunately with analogue setting up poorly is a common issue. When I had a shop in the 80's I was very surprised at how poorly most front ends were set up from what I regarded as experienced audiophiles.

One major advance though is that today tools, manuals and in general product  today are designed for easy setup, and info on how to is freely available.

Comes back to that old chestnut - read the manual ( twice ) before setting up.