Video Asylum

Posted by Dr. T on September 23, 1999 at 15:54:15:

Recently in a thread there was some discussion of whether it is better to have good cartridge in a lesser TT or a cheap cartridge in a good TT. Earlier there have been discussions of whether the tonearm matters more than the table or vice versa. I would like to know once and for all the ranking in importance of 4 major elements in vinyl reproduction:
Suspension, Platter/bearing, tonearm, and cartridge.

How would you rank them in terms of their importance to the overall sound?
What percentage of the total contribution to sound quality does each of the 4 components make?

I realize this question only admits of a rough approximation for an answer, but it would still be helful to have even a rough approximation.