@wescoman
Your first priority after deciding on your budget should be -
Does it meet your needs taking into account your cartridge and the ensuing line stage.
Sound quality ( in your system )
Build quality
Unfortunately therein lies the rub - what is build quality.
As a distributor some years ago of very high end I can tell you that I have seen numerous products - at around US$5k-$7k retail price where the product is full of dry joints ( poor solder joints ). Products that reviewed exceptionally well, products including a top phono stage used and endorsed by Michael Bremer, built poorly.
Secondly - designers may choose components for their electrical characteristics - a seemingly run of the mill quality cap may be chosen over an audiophile equivalent, not for cost purposes, but for specific electrical characteristics the designer wants.
Thirdly, I have seen many products with fake boutique audiophile components in them. The marketer sends the product in for review, and thereafter the production samples are not built to the same standard.
Over the years I have seen products that have had significant circuit changes and cost reductions ( power supply capacitance etc ) post the review.
Unfortunately I also have seen many audiophiles replacing components, not understanding the circuit and its requirements, and actually making the product worse.
This is our own fault as audiophiles demanding jewellery and "audiophile components".
In terms of manufacturing I can tell you first hand that many famous manufacturers have been advised by retailers "your product sounds fantastic, but for us to sell it we need xxx caps, yyy bindings posts, mmm brand wiring, gold plated this and that".
We get what we ask for in many instances - stuff that looks pretty, that has all the audiophile jewellery, but sounds average or worse, is unreliable.
