The simple answer goes back to the 1980s Analogue Front End Heirachy. Usually simplified as " Garbage in = Garbage out" .
Back then , the perceived wisdom was to allocate the largest portion of a front end budget to the quality of the turntable plinth , then the tonearm and ,lastly, the cartridge in that order. In 1980s money ratio that would translate to something like 50% plinth / 40% tonearm ? 10% cartridge.
This approach would often be employed until you could afford something as capable as a Linn LP12 , a top spec Thorens like the TD-531, Roksan Xerxes etc....and a high quality tonearm. Only then would you consider throwing real money at the cartridge.
The logic from an engineering perspective was : the first thing you want to eliminate or minimise before throwing money at a cartridge was any vibration NOT related to the stylus tracing the signal in the groove.
The cost vs performance ratio claimed by this approach, (and Linn seemed to preach it more than most) , was that the most disposable part of the front end ( ie the cartridge and stylus ) shouldn't exceed the quality of either the turntable plinth system or the quality of the toneaam it was attached to.
This was because any unwanted vibrations that these two preceeding components added to the stylus /record groove interface was distortion added to the musical signal.
The less distortion added , the better chance the cartridge had of retrieving a cleaner musical signal.
Imho opinion..it worked well as a cost effective way of getting the best front end set up you could on a limited budget until you could afford high end turntables.
The thing to remember is that a turntable package as a whole is basically a very vibration sensitive tracing instrument. And it depends on good engineering tolerances and finish in the moving parts most critical to this task. Platter bearings, motor vibration , plinth vibrations, construction materials, tonearm bearing friction or play...tonearm cable quality , electircal shielding etc...these are expensive thing to get right during manufacture..and the price reflects that. Basically the cartridge can only sound as good as the platform it is mounted to.
Most people have never listened to something like a cheap Audio Technica AT-95E or AT-110E cartridge from the 80s or even one of the cheaper Ortofon Ellipticals from that period once they were mounted on something in the same league of say a Linn Sondek or any good quality 3 point suspended plinth with an tonearm no less in quality that say a Rega RB-250 or RB-300 ( circa late 80s /early 90s spec).
Sometimes even a basic entry level budget cartridge can surprise you when the cartridge itself...is the cheapest ( and weakest ) link.
Another thing to consider..and this is probably even more important than either the turntable or cartridge is : You MUST align the cartridge to Null Points of a KNOWN geometry BASED solely on the ACTUAL mounting distance of the tonearm.
Whether its Stevenson, Loefgren A or B ( Baerwald ) geometry is better than using no geometry at all.
The *overhang method* is only a convenience shortcut. A good Protractor to ensure alignment is spot on eliminates the kind of groove tracing errors no upgrade can fix.
A good cartridge alignment can sometimes make the biggest improvement in sound once its spot on...and its completely free !
