Top 3 high compliant mm/mi cartridges

All the info above is good. I have personal experience with the top of the line Stantons and Pickerings; they are wonderful when in good condition. I listen to my 981LZS much of the time, in fact. Its output is more akin to that of an LOMC however. (The "L" stands for low output.) Make sure you have plenty of gain for it. Raul says he liked the 981HZS even better. (H for high output.) As you may know, if you've read Raul's thread, I also love the Acutex LPM320STRIII, but the LPM with that 320 stylus may now be extinct. It seems that before the thread got started, there was an existing but very small supply of the best vintage cartridges and styli gathering dust on shelves in the US and Europe. The thread seems to have stimulated a buy-out of NOS, such that it is really a treasure hunt, now. Read the MM/MI thread for more ideas than you can shake a tonearm at. Vintage AT cartridges are also much loved, to go with your AT tonearm.

Nagaoka MP50/500 are said to be excellent and are readily available. (MP500 is current production, I think.)
Ortofon M20FL Super and M20E Super are still available NOS.
Who is to say that some of the current production MM and MI cartridges are not every bit as good as the vintage ones, maybe even better. Take a look at Grado, Clearaudio, Sumiko, Soundsmith. Recent manufacture makes those less of a crap shoot in terms of condition.

Nandric et al, I thought the issue with the AKG P8ES had something to do with the fragility of the wiring in the body of the cartridge, which is why there are so many of them out there with "one dead channel". This problem could not/would not be fixed by replacing the stylus assembly. Fortunately for Nandric, his apparently only needed the new stylus. (I've got a P8ES vdH but have yet to audition it.)

Rich, Why not try to find an ADC XLM to go with your ADC tonearm? It was once thought to be king of the hill at the 1970s retail price of ca $300 and much less if purchased from any of the then prevalent discount houses. Quality control was not the best, I can tell you.

Dear Nandric, My memory for the cause may be faulty, but it is demonstrably true that many of the AKG cartridges that come up for sale on eBay are described as "one channel is dead" or "dead but stylus is good". A faulty stylus assembly should not cause one channel only to go completely dead, as far as I know. So there has to be some other explanation for the plethora of defective AKG cartridges. Ne c'est pas? I thought I had read that there was an issue with internal wiring, but I certainly could be wrong.

Dear Raul, Since you mentioned the MC2000, let me also say how much I am enjoying your Ortofon MC7500, in a 10.5-inch Reed tonearm on my SP10 Mk3 (finally). And now, back to MM/MI cartridge discussions.