Develop a hierarchy for phono playback

The English language is so imprecise.  I meant it more along the lines of soften his words.  And with that said, the spirit and intent of a model of this sort is not to be rigid, it is a guideline to aid self analysis.  Think of it as a kind of a decision tree to help figuring out were you are at and what next area of focus might be most productive.  It might have more value for me than for lewm.  That is ok, but the word "worthless" especially as used to apply to one and all is very strong.   

I would think it depends upon what your goals are.

If someone was making an all out assault on the state of the art, then they would spend the majority of money on a turntable.  There's a handful of $150k plus turntables, but phono stages seem to top out around $50k.  Does anyone make a $20k plus cartridge?

If you entire system is less than $20k, then you might choose differently.  Also are you putting together a vinyl setup from scratch?  Starting from a blank slate gives the user a lot of freedom, but I think it's more common for someone to already have a vinyl system and wants to improve it somehow.  My guess is that people in this situation overspend on a cartridge.  I could be wrong.

Just when you least expect it, the Spanish Inquisition!  :)

Oy Vey!  Now I must recant.

I withdraw the word “worthless “.