I'm a lower budget guy so you may want to dismiss what I say. For the past couple of years I've used the low-budget Grado monos -- MC+ ($80) and ME+ ($130). Obviously they're not the last word in sonic quality, but they did cut down on a lot of groove noise, making some old monos actually listenable.
A couple of weeks ago I saw an add here on a'gon for a new mono cart from some guy in Japan, crossed my fingers and bought one. Here's a link to his ad, which is still active: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1224934071&/Miyajima_lab-kotetu-mono-a-pat
This cart really surprised me. It almost eliminated the groove noise on most of my mono LPs, while conveying very pleasing timbres for all instruments, and clean sound across the spectrum. Its .5mV output is perfect for me, as my stereo cart's output is .4mV,so I don't have to dig into the Phonomena to change gain. I've also left the loading alone (475ohms) and the cart just sings.
The only problem is it's way under $1k and you've defined "good" as $2-3k. But if you're willing to slum it, the thing might be a good starter mono cart for you. Good luck.
A couple of weeks ago I saw an add here on a'gon for a new mono cart from some guy in Japan, crossed my fingers and bought one. Here's a link to his ad, which is still active: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1224934071&/Miyajima_lab-kotetu-mono-a-pat
This cart really surprised me. It almost eliminated the groove noise on most of my mono LPs, while conveying very pleasing timbres for all instruments, and clean sound across the spectrum. Its .5mV output is perfect for me, as my stereo cart's output is .4mV,so I don't have to dig into the Phonomena to change gain. I've also left the loading alone (475ohms) and the cart just sings.
The only problem is it's way under $1k and you've defined "good" as $2-3k. But if you're willing to slum it, the thing might be a good starter mono cart for you. Good luck.