Reasonable moving coil cartridge

I should correct something. When i commented earlier i meant new cantilevered not retip. SoundSmith calls themselves retippers but mostly as far as i know they prefer to recantilever. All three that i had done were recantilevered. I don't actually hear much about just retipping. Correct me if this is wrong.
@chakster 

It’s wrong. And a sample size of three is hardly consequential.

Only they can answer as to their preference, but a complete rebuild offers the re-whatever far more control of the quality of the finished product (and of course more money). A simple retip might quite conceivably fail or deteriorate within an unreasonable time frame if the cartridge is old, due to factors outside their control.

Wrong strategy, Number One. Don’t waste your money on upgrading the cartridge on an economy table. That said, if you must, the Audio Technica VM540ML would be an improvement on the Melody. You’ve got to remember you can’t just put a good cartridge on an okay table and expect it to perform at its best. A cheap cartridge on a top table will blow away a great cartridge on an economy table.

I don't even know why you guys are going on and on about re-tipping rebuilding. he's looking at a $300 cart who in their right mind re-tips a $300 cart more economical to buy a new one. Ok ok I know someone has a ultra rare cart they love and will pay to re tip it but 99% of the rest just toss it and buy new at those price levels. 

Ok rant done,

 I agree with the others stick to MM-MI in that price. 
The Denon as much as people gush over it its a dud IMO (conical tipped) Its fine if your looking for that 70's rock sound ie boomy bass, descent mids and rolled off highs but really its a budget MC when the higher end MM's in the same price range are better. Sticking a different body or tip on it helps but its never going to be a $600 cart even with $500 added on in upgrades. Ok my opinion after owning one and trying to get decent sound out of it. 

After owning a VDH MC 10 for 20 years I cannot recommend faster the VDH mc 10 as an entry level MC cart. you'd have to save up some though. The Van Den Hull MC10 its their entry level LOMC and its got 90% of the VDH upper end and of course VDH's fantastic Stylus profile. I think its a great value, you see them for around a grand new. Rebuildable of course and excellent  longevity. I've had mine rebuilt cost about 40% of the new cost. 

Glen 

Any LOMC about less than $800 or so is probably not going to be any better than a good MM or MI cartridge.

Go with MM or MI, with something like a Nagaoka MP300 or MP500 or Ortofon 2M black or Godring 2400 (or similar). You can get them almost half price on ebay. Only a few weeks ago, on ebay, I found an MP500 for less than $250 with a broken stylus and got an MP300 stylus for it.

Note that although these "esoteric" styli types (line contact, shibata etc), are highly touted, some are EXTREMELY finnicky to set up to get their angles correct. An elliptical or an hyper elliptical will be much less sensitive to this (and much cheaper). MP500 will accept either an 300 or a 500 styli. 2M black will also work perfectly well with a 2M blue stylus too.

At my teenage years of 62, I doubt I can hear the nuances any cartridge can offer which is more than about 300 bucks.