"Could be wrong, but my point is, I think the reason record-loving audiophiles put so much more attention and money on record players vs carts and phonostages is because there is more to look at."
What? How about because turntables cost much more, for commensurate quality, than either tonearms or cartridges? That answers the "money" part of your hypothesis. Whether audiophiles pay more "attention" to turntables than to other components of the vinyl chain is a matter of your opinion. Got some data to back that up?