Proteus compared to MSL ultra eminent ex

I have an early proteus, I think there were two revisions after mine the second being the diamond cantilever. It’s 5 years old now and seen a lot of vinyl so I started to look for a replacement. I was also on the verge of retirement so rebuild costs of any replacement become more important. Before the Trans I ran a series of Dynavector 17Ds and moving to the proteus from a 3 I didn’t miss anything of the Karat’s speed and gained more body to the sound, and improved dynamics, that was on a Naim Aro.  I didn’t want a lesser Proteus or I could go back to my part worn DV or the newer Dx. I was considering whether it was time to try a Koetsu and had picked out the Vermillion as the most likely candidate but ideally I’d prefer not to spend that much this time. Somehow the thought arrived that an SPU Royal N would make an interesting experiment, different enough from the Proteus that it was unlikely to be less of the same. The tracking force looks alarmingly high at 3g but the stylus isn’t as fine as a Proteus’ so pressure on the grooves probably not too much higher. My current arm, purchased after I’d started using the Proteus, is a Schröder Reference with an effective mass of 13g using an aluminium cartridge mounting plate, change it for a brass one and that goes up to 18g plus a bit for moving the counterweight further back. With the Royal N that’s quite a long way back.
So to my impressions, there was yet another increase in substance to the sound, orchestral music had more depth and a greater sense of scale and it seemed notes were being strung together in a more meaningful fashion. It’s all a bit more relaxed than the Proteus and detail not as prominent but on the whole I think I prefer it. I do get a bit more static build up from playing a disc.

Ana Mighty Sound in France will rebuild a Proteus and I had a quote just pre lockdown for about the same cost as a new Royal N but haven’t yet followed it up, I think I will though as I’m wondering if I’ve just got better at setting up the arm since I installed the Proteus.

I also have a certain curiosity about the Ortofon Anna with the same stylus profile but selected styli and more sophisticated materials than the Royal N but would it keep what I like about the SPU? The idea of a Koetsu Vermillion hasn’t entirely gone away either but both of those options might be unsustainable past the first rebuild.

When I bought my Proteus they were £2900 in the UK, the US price was $6000. It faced tougher competition in the US at that price.
I haven’t seen mention of which arm the OP is using but assuming it’s medium mass the Winfield Ti might be a good choice that gives a different flavour to a trans but I’ve no direct experience. With a higher mass arm the Anna comes into play.
I did hear my Proteus on a WT Versalex, when a friend replaced his Radikalised Linn with one and before I bought the Aretmis/Schröder. On the Versalex a Dyna DRT VX-1t was hard to forget, the Proteus wasn’t.

Despite Mijostyn’s opinion I find the Royal N surprisingly good considering its price, with no tracking issues yet encountered nor lack of bass. My arm at 18g plus the Royal N with its cheese at 16g gives a mass of 34g total, an Ortofon TA210 has an effective mass of 5g without a headshell, an SPU G type weighs in at 30g, so only a gram more in total than I have. Frank Schröder, when supplying the brass mounting plate, did suggest I could double it up with the aluminium one if necessary but I find no need to. What there was a need for is fine adjustment of VTA and VTF and I’m glad I went for these options when commissioning my arm but it’s still a sensitive blighter to set up, every screw tension seems to make an audible difference.