Why do better MC cartridges cost a fortune?

Couple of years ago one could get Lyra Delos for $1k or so from the UK. That semed reasonable. As for Sumiko and lesser Koetsu, though I am unfamiliar with them, there is an opinion that they are not really good enough. There is also $1.5k Goldring, which is supposedly acceptable. Kiseki and Transfiguration for about $3.5k would be as high as I ever cared to go. Provided the rest of the analog set-up is up to this level.
Not Bugatti - Koenigsegg, $2million. I think, they make a dozen each year.

If I were those Japanese cartridge makers I would take the prices much higher, say, $50k for top of the line models. All Japanese makers, they know how to talk to each other. How many would still buy them? Enough, I guess.

And yet, none of them are as neutral and reproduce the original as cleanly, with as little distortion, and with as much channel separation as a cd/dvd/bd disc player of a few hundred dollars at most. As I said, such cartridges are the emperor’s new clothes.

A new Bugatti is not a real Bugatti. :)
Yeah, i’m sure there are some less outrageously priced cartridges that can deliver top tier performance. I had Lyras for a while (the Parnassus with the fancy magnets and a Titan i when it first came out). I gather that the stone bodied Koestu is more neutral than the wood bodied one.
Horses for courses. I like what the Airtight Supreme does- just hate paying the tariff. Fair point that one shouldn’t have to spend 10k dollars to get state of the art. There’s certainly a lot out there- Dynavectors, Benz (though not really available in the states I gather or certain models aren't but correct me if wrong), a whole raft of others- Soundsmith, etc.
As mentioned, I’m planning to experiment with some less costly cartridges once I finish the SP-10 set up in my vintage system.
I know David Karmeli- who posts here (I think) is very fond of a certain era vintage Ortofon SPU. I don’t know if he messes around with retips or simply finds old cartridges that still have life.

willemj

And yet, none of them are as neutral and reproduce the original as cleanly, with as little distortion, and with as much channel separation as a cd/dvd/bd disc player of a few hundred dollars at most. As I said, such cartridges are the emperor’s new clothes.

If you want to play LPs - and there are many fine LPs that have never made it to CD, or whose original LP sounds better than a CD made from its aged master tape - you’ll need a turntable. A cd/dvd/bd disc player won’t suffice.

You seem to be confused about the fable of the emperor’s new clothes. In the tale, the clothes do not exist. On the other hand, expensive phono cartridges do exist, and they play music. Perhaps that is of no value to you, which is fine. But your analogy shows an ignorance of phono cartridges, or the meaning of the emperor’s tale, or both.