MM Cartridge Talk

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

A few of my favorite MM carts are the Stanton 681EEE and the Shure V15VxMR for vintage/out of production. A few of my fave current models are the Goldring 1042 and the Nagaoka MP500. Grado makes some really nice sounding carts too, but they’re MI carts. 

Shure Ultra 500Shure V15V xMRStanton 681 EEE
Tops - the Shure Ultra 500 (9.3 g. w/ effective mass of 0.165 g) - more detailed, solid performance across all frequencies and tracks every platter I've ever had without effort. Naturally, it should be paired with a lower mass tonearm like an SME Series III.

@technick, I have a Systemdek IIx that has a Grado Black on it.  I am looking to upgrade and am considering a Nagaoka MP300 or MP500 as an upgrade.
I have a reasonably neutral amp (Simaudio Moon 340idpx) and B&W CM5 S2 speakers.  I like the Grado because it compensates for the B&W's which I consider too bright.
In light of my system would the Nagaoka be a good balance?  Long term I want to swap the speakers for something with more warmth and for that I am considering Dynaudio or totem.  All of this is subject to change until I sit down to a serious audition.

The new Audio Technica AT-VM95ML looks incredibly tasty to me. Love MicroLine styli and a slight bit of mass loading might be worth experimenting with.