Table/arm/cart function as a system. You can toss the plinth, mat, and anything else that is there for benefit of the table into that system also. You want to optimize each system and compare. Components that perform optimally in one system may not in another. That could be plinth, mat cart, whatever.
If done well, each optimized phono SYSTEM should perform well. Each better or worse perhaps in particular aspects of the resulting sound. Which is better will often be a matter of personal preference and also how that phono system fits into the larger system as a whole as well. Obviously, use of high quality components in the properly integrated system is an insurance policy of sorts towards better performance, but not necessarily an indicator of better sound.
Not sure what else can be said objectively. Each case is different. Unless you exactly replicate a system that sounds good, it is hard to predict how any particular component will sound when you use it in your system. It is a combo of art and science through trial and error over the long term that delivers the end results. Knowledge, time and money are necessary ingredients. Otherwise, all bets are off.
If done well, each optimized phono SYSTEM should perform well. Each better or worse perhaps in particular aspects of the resulting sound. Which is better will often be a matter of personal preference and also how that phono system fits into the larger system as a whole as well. Obviously, use of high quality components in the properly integrated system is an insurance policy of sorts towards better performance, but not necessarily an indicator of better sound.
Not sure what else can be said objectively. Each case is different. Unless you exactly replicate a system that sounds good, it is hard to predict how any particular component will sound when you use it in your system. It is a combo of art and science through trial and error over the long term that delivers the end results. Knowledge, time and money are necessary ingredients. Otherwise, all bets are off.