With due respect to all of the opinons voiced above, I think that one thing that everyone is overlooking is what I call 'system synergy' or just plain matching... Everyone (and especially anyone that has owned a huge number of different components over the years) must know that you cannot judge stereo components on price alone. Over the last 30 years I have personally audtioned a significant variety of preamps, amps, CD players, and countless different speaker designs and I have found a lot less relationship to $$$ and performance than you might imagine. For example, I have brought in a variety of amps, stereo and mono blocks, both tube and solid state, SET, EL34, 6550, etc... and units costing as much as 5 times what I have today; and none of them sounded better or were a more of a synergistic match than the mono blocks I purchased in 1997 (and still use today).
What does this have to do with the "best" TT and cartridge for $10k; everything! The key to a high performing stereo rig is much less driven by cost than it is by the careful audition and matching of the components that as a whole form a system that is 'greater than the sum of its parts.' And don't make the mistake of overlooking the size and type of room which is critical in this entire process!
My experience over the last 30 years or so in this insane pursuit has been that the very best systems tend to be the ones that do not change a great deal or very often over time. If you are buying and using a 100+ of any component then that leads me to belive that you just haven't found that 'synergy' or that you are very obviously facing some other challenges...
When your rig gets 'right,' when the system synergy gets there, you don't move ahead by constantly inserting new gear; if you do then something is wrong!
I'm not saying that you won't upgrade or make improvements over time; most likely you will as technology and materials improve (although CD was the 'perfect sound forever' technology and we see where it is going; out!)
Every single TT made by VPI is far better than 'average mid-fi' and far better than most other so called 'hi-end' brands. Take a good table like the Aries 3 and put a world class arm like the DV 507 on it (also recommened for the TW-Acoustic tables) and what you get is a solid synergistic match that will shine in many, many rigs... Will it shine in your rig; who knows? But, before you label it as 'nuts', you should really get that piece and listen to it...
In other words, the number of components you've personally owned or audtioned over time is certainly important for the formation of a basis for the understanding and recognition of true high-fidelity, emotionally moving sound; experience does matter here. But, until you put that component into your room and your rig, you really can't comment on the 'truth' it will deliver...
