Turntable prices. Is my mind going?

I was shocked by prices and weights - but now I'm accepting that probably many of these turntables are bought for beauty and pride. I'd like to retract my "audiophools" adjective. I'm sure, as long as the mechanical parts are working, these tables can reproduce music at a highly satisfying level. As I heat these days "my bad"  :)  However, having heard a shootout at Mike Lavigne's house (via youtube) to my ears the Wadax trounced the spinner. It's about time  :)

On the subject, I don't know how a 10K (20, 50, 100, etc.) turntable can be better than a 2K turntable. Needle, yes, I can see the needle making a big difference. But arm, platter, plinth, etc. just all do a very simple job.

This doesn't mean that I think that people who spend 10s of thousands on a turntable are snobs or make bad decisions. All it means I don't know.

Maybe some day I will...

At least you admit that you "don't know". That's a good place to start, rather than to think that if it's cheaper, it must be as good or better. as some do.  There's a great line from the movie "A Thousand Clowns", which came out in the early 60s and is one of my favorites.  Martin Balsam plays financially successful older brother to Jason Robards who plays a sort of devil-may-care beatnik type who is financially careless at best. (There were Beatniks in the 50s and early 60s.)  The two brothers are having an argument about life philosophies, and Martin Balsam says to Jason Robards, with irony, "I get it. If I'm so smart, why aren't I poor?"  The take home lesson for audiophiles being sometimes there is a correlation between cost and quality, but not all the time.

The take home lesson for audiophiles being sometimes there is a correlation between cost and quality, but not all the time.

There is for sure a non linear correlation between price tags (which are not cost) and design quality.. Not linear or as you said "not all the time".

But there is no correlation save a very loose one between acoustic perception of the system/room S.Q. and the price tags of the gear for many reasons linked to acoustics and psychoacoustics among others...

The most costly piece of gear is the room and it is the forgotten piece when audiophile spoke about S.Q. in their non dedicated room (living room ) . Or in a room with only a few panels... 😊

On a '"cost-per-gram" comparison nothing beats the $16K Grado Epoch cartridge!