Is table really more importsnt than cartridge?

I don't know the answer...but it would seem obvious that the components must meet some level of solid performance...do what they are designed to do. It is clear that people do have their own strong beliefs on these matters. One topic that comes to mind recently on a thread dealt with the cleaning of records. Some people feel that damage is done to a new record if it is not cleaned before the first play. I myself don't adhere to this belief...if it were true how could there be so many used records on the market...and I mean really old records that are wonderful recordings and sought out by people. The technology of cartridges and maintenance of this medium have advanced leaps and bounds...but these used records were exposed to everything indicative of the time. However, there is truth and substance to a certain degree in all the positions taken on this hobby. Some do take positions too far and one must step back and look at whether a position taken can be supported by actual data as opposed to "their experience".

Thanks for the thoughtful responses thus far. If I may move the discussion from the theoretical to the practical -- I'm thinking of investing $300 to improve my analog setup and am wondering how to get most sonic improvement for the buck. My rig is a Thorens TD-320, with Shure V15VxMR cartridge, with a Gram Amp 2SE preamp. My initial thought was to sell the Cartridge for about $150 and use the $450 to buy a better cartridge. After reading posts about importance of the table itself, however, I'm wondering if it's smarter to sell the table for about $150 and use the $450 to buy a better table. Or maybe I can't buy any significant improvement for "only" $300? Any thoughts? Thanks, Rich

Winegasman, my suggestion is to be careful doing such small incremental upgrades. My experience has been that I've usually been better off spending such amounts on more vinyl or saving it until I could upgrade to something at least double cost. While there are wonderful values available in audio (and your tt/cartridge combination is one of them), it is also unfortunately true that sonic improvement often follows a pretty steep cost/benefit curve.

Rich, If you want practical, my sugestion would be that you do nothing at this point in time. Spend some time learning about turntable/arm/cartridge interface before you do anything or your likely to be flushing your $300 down the drain. You have to learn how to match the arm to the table and the cartridge to the arm and then match the cartridge to the phono preamp to maximize performance. Screw up one of these items and you're nowhere. FWIW, the place to start the process is with the turntable, otherwise you are building your house on sand (so the saying goes).

Thorens TD-320 is not ab bad TT. If you're looking to improve the detail and sound stage then I would suggest you replace the cartridge with MC cartridge like Audio Technica OC-9 or Sumiko Blue point Special (nude body so be very careful of installing this cartridge.)
Hope this helps. If you want to stick with MMs, the better Grado also good choice.
If I have to choose with a limited budget, I would definitely replace the cartridge first.