Worth is a relative thing. It's also hard to put a value on some vintage cartridges, which have been out of production for decades. But does a high end cartridge add real value to the listening experience? A qualified yes from me.
Without a doubt a high end cartridge is likely to be better than a cheaper transducer. But it all depends on your system and room (and budget). Don't forget that some of the high end vintage MM/MI cartridges (e.g. Grace P9E, AKG P8ES etc) from the heyday of vinyl in the 70/80s were just awesome, but sadly long forgotten.
My £3k Allaerts sounds much better than my previous Dyna DV23R, Ortofon MC10 Super, Supex SD900E and SL15ELL. There is finesse, space in the soundstage and greater sense of the harmonics, but still you get a kick from the bass line. I've heard the Dyna XV-1T and the Transfig Proteus elsewhere and they sounded excellent as well.
But your system and room have to be able to resolve and project the extra resolution form the front end.
R2R: Studer A820 1/2 inch 2 track; Otari MTR-12 1/4 inch 2 track; Sony APR 5003; Sony APR 5002; Studer A807/II. Vinyl: Platine Verdier Allaerts MC1B/Schroeder Reference & Model 2 Decca C4E/Hadcock 228 TRON Seven Reference phono. Keith Monks MkII RCM Other analogue source: Nakamichi Dragon with ANT4066 mods. Amplification: TRON Meteor preamp TRON Voyager 20B SET power. Speakers: Avantgarde Duo. Digital: computing at last with Prism Sound Lyra 2 A2D converter