Does someone’s opinion affect your opinion?

How a cart works in one system can have very little relevance how it’ll perform in another. There are a bunch of variables that impact how a cart sounds. The loading from the phono stage, cables, tonearm compatibility, VTA, SRA, VTF, different system synergy, room effects, etc.  It's possible to get some direction from others, and even some point of reference by listening to their system (if it's good), but in the end you really need to go your own way and piece together things YOU like on your system. 

What if he said your wife is ugly....

Next of kin will notified 😆

It is normal for most to be influenced to some level or degree by others opinion....

But no audio system is the same nor the hearing filters are the same...

And the place where we are in our audio journey differ too...

Then...

Another important thing is learning to trust our ears....

Then we must set some acoustic experiments and train ourself then this improve self confidence a lot...

«Opinions are like an onion and we see only the last skin»-- Groucho Marx 🤓

“What if he said your wife is ugly....

I let all the visitors know ahead of time about my wife’s Santa Clarita Diet 😉

I think the kind of impact your friends comment has is somewhat dependent on your experience level, exposure to other systems, and depth of knowledge. For instance if someone said that of my system, I would have to exert some self control not to start laughing. I have been an avid audiophile for fifty years. While I am open to learning, I know exactly what attributes my system has; relative to real music and other systems.

On the other hand, I would become very interested in understanding where they are coming from. I would want to hear what they have been hearing to better understand.

I do understand your reaction. I think it is pretty normal… I’m assuming you have not been an audiophile for fifty years. It would spur me on to understand more. I would certainly want to hear what he is listening to, I would also go out and find some audio stores and listen to what they have. Is there any truth in the claim? If not, great, you can go back to enjoying your system. But if there is… then you can learn something… this is how we learn over time and zero in on what you will ultimately appreciate as you mature.

I would look at your friends comments as a great opportunity to learn and experience more systems.