I had an "interesting" conversation last night with a handful of people online. I quoted interesting because I came to the realization that the vinyl community is all over the map in what they like, dislike, the definition of the word "audiophile", equipment and so on. The oddest thing is that we tend to put the elitist crowd at the top end of all of this, the ones who spend a boat load of money and when in a conversation there is only 1 right answer, theirs. But funny enough, there is just as much, if not more, elitism at the "bottom" end, those that only buy used "vintage" equipment, never spend more than $5.00 on an album and when in a conversation there is only 1 right answer, theirs.
I like getting opinions from people, people who have used the gear I'm looking into, I also like reading and watching reviews....with a grain of salt. What I don't like is being "Told" what the right gear is. There is no right gear, there's what YOU like and what YOU can afford, neither of which contributes to your audiophile status, being an audiophile has nothing to do with how expensive your equipment is or how many records you own. The word has just gotten morphed into so many things it's not.
This conversation was crazy, in my opinion, not that one persons opinion of something was crazy, but how hard those people, shall I say, dug in their heals on their opinions at both ends of the elitist spectrum. That's way too much work in this hobby, I mean obsessing over certain things and then spending just as much time convincing other's you're way is the ONLY way. The hobby is supposed to be fun, it's supposed to breed good light hearted conversations about music, pressings and gear. If you like what a $100 cart does for you, that's great, share what you like about it, do your best to explain what you hear and why you like it, be open to "If you like that, maybe give this a try next time" and don't take offence to those comments, we're here to share and help each other.
The hobby can be frustrating, cause major FOMO and sometimes leave you feeling you're below some mythical bar that was set. At the end of the day all that matters is what you hear and how you like it, listen to those who have been there and then make up your own mind, everyone has an opinion, don't get lost in all of those opinions. It reminds me of a friend I had years ago, in the hey day of Apple coming out with a new phone every 3 months it seemed, she wanted an iPhone so bad, but kept putting it off because she was afraid that once she bought one, a new one would come out and she wouldn't have the latest and greatest, at that point your never getting that iPhone, and why you want one is more about having the latest and greatest as opposed to wanting a good phone.
This "meeting of the minds" ended up with a lot of arguing, name calling, confused OPs and I'm sure a lot of people just shaking there heads and just sliding out of the conversation. I got a PM out of all of that from someone new-ish to the hobby and expressed the same information that I've expressed above, now it's up to them to make a choice that they're happy with............because that's the
ONLY person who needs to be happy with the choices you make. That being said, we all make choices that turn out to be less than what we expected, that's nobody's fault, just learn from it, weigh the pros and cons and make another choice, in this hobby you have to "break a few eggs", just don't obsess over it
of the beholder. 
on that very subject. Very on point.