Table only as good as it s cartridge?

I think that a TT set-up is as good as not only the sum of its' basic parts ( tt, arm, cartridge, wiring, etc...), but also one must take into account it's mounting and support structure. Since vinyl "grooves" are micro at best, vibration of the platter & arm can surely affect the tracking ability. Sean
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My take is that a cartridge is only as good as the table and arm.A superior cartridge will never be able to show its abilities unless given a precision reference platform to work from and having effective isolation from its environment.

This strictly my opinion. In theory no. The whole package and the stand is very important. In practice, yes everything makes a difference, but after you get to a decent table like a Rega 3, or better yet a 25, the cartridge becomes very important. The stand is also important. That being said I have an Oracle V with upgraded power supply, a Graham 2.0 and a Lyra Helicon with a tube phono pre. Most of this is lost if your records are not clean. On the other hand I have listened to a MMF-3 with a phenomena phono pre get the music right and sound superior to a $5k CD circa 1999. I repeat milage may vary. Enjoy the music.

Hope this helps

The folks at Linn would argue that the cartridge is the LAST thing you upgrade. The Linn hierarchy puts precise speed control above a better arm, and a better arm above a better cartridge. Following this philosophy, probably not worthwhile to spend big buck on a cartridge until the rest is taken care of.