MM Cartridge Talk

ADC XLMs sounded great - smooooth and far more detail than a Shure V-15MkIv, but had a nasty habit of the suspension just failing - about half the ones we ever sold just collapsed. The other half were wonderful. They were extremely compliant, and favored tonearms like the Grace 707 on a heavy Japanese DD. Never would get the ADC/707/TD-125-II combo to work, although a couple Linn-Sondek LP-12/707/ ADCs I heard seemed to work well. 

well if we are heading back down memory lane for oldies but goodies i would nominate the micro acoustics series especially their ma2002e with their electret conducer - super low mass great tracker nice balanced sound

When I returned to vinyl in the early 00's, I found a nice Philips AF 777 on which I installed a Grado Black. It had been about 25 years since I owned a turntable and I found this humble combination to be very satisfying. I think it worked especially well as the Mission speakers, I had at the time, were a bit forward and the Grado a bit laid back. Synergy

What Chakster said.  The only one of my MC cartridges that is clearly up with the best of my MM or MI types is my Ortofon MC2000.  Other LOMCs I own are also very good, and I do listen to them frequently, but no one of them stands clearly above the best of my MMs or MIs, such as Grace Ruby with OCL re-tip, B&O MMC1, Acutex LPM320, Stanton 981LZ, etc.  I don't mean to say that only vintage MMs need apply; I have a hunch that there is a new generation of MMs or MI types that are also competitive with kilobuck LOMCs.  This is only my opinion, using the only ears I own.

IMO, @myjostin should have made an addendum, as his initial Charisma failed in the first 4 months.