Cartridge recommendations

madavid,
Check out raul's very large MM thread. There is a lot of information their on MM's that produce exceptional sound quality. That certainly doesn't mean MC's don't (the most certainly do), but that there are viable options.  

madavid, No, some people (myself included) have had great results with older MM's. 

Let us know how you like it. Soundsmith is a great company. 

I picked up a NOS virtuoso ebony cartridge for about the money you mention above & it is outstanding for the money. Betters the LOMC's I've used prior to it. I can see how you could break them though. The stylus is certainly not protected. Kinda sticks out there just daring you to break it. If you don't mind going old school, check out Raul's large mm thread. There are a lot of great old mm or mi cartridges out there that you can still get high quality stylus's for.