A cartridge with more bite, please and thank you

Raising the VTA help a surprising amount! Thanks @jasonbourne52 ...So, I'm less desperately drive, but very interested in the AT ART9 and Ortofon Cadenza Bronze, but now have some curiosity around the Lyra Delos, too. I appreciate the input. More than one would is a lot to look forward to - maybe Christmas will bring a couple along to try. Please, baby, please, baby, please!

I have a cork mat that I'm happy with.

The MCS wiring is a little enigmatic and often changed out. Rewiring with the new OCC Alphason wire used in the HR200 isn't too crazy expensive and includes an arm tune up. It can be wired to a DIN or straight through. I'm leaning towards doing it and straight through to avoid extra connections in the signal path, etc....

@palasr doing very well. and i wish the same for you and yours. Happy holidays up there.

A friend of mine runs a Shelter 7000 on his VPI (Aries 3?) and it sounds really great. Totally different table/arm/system, I know. There doesn't seem to be a lot of Shelter love on the forums, but I thought I'd toss it in the ring. At this point, I think Lyra is out for me - too much 'bite'. What I meant by bite was quicker and sharper leading edge. While Lyra looks to offer that, the emphasis on the treble end and detail turns my attention elsewhere. That leaves

AT ART9xx, Ortofon Cadenza Bronze and....Shelter 901 series

A Shelter 7000 does not have 'Bite' in any arm or supporting ancillary.

It will deliver a Rich Believable Tone, played through the Brightest SS Phon, with Silver Wire throughout the Signal Path. 

The Cadenza Bronze is Cart' to present with a Richer Tone as an alternative to the Siblings in the Range.

Are you sure you do not want a Cart' with a bottom end that is the noticeable trait. 'Mud on the Wellies', the amount of Trudge to bare, will be another case where 'each to their own' is the best practice.

There are endless Cart's able to present with this trait being detectable, the options for a Shortlist can be tenfold, in comparison to a Lean, Transparent, Projected Mid - Upper Mid Trait.       

I like the Benz Micro stuff for punch that’s balanced.

Not outrageously expensive either.

Within my HiFi Group, there are periodically dedicated demonstrations of a Cart'.

The Ortofon Kontrapunkt B (Kb) is the Cart' used across a broad amount of users within the Group, and is the main spare belonging to the larger proportion of members.

The Kb' is used to compare other Carts' to as it is with attractive traits, but does not push too far with any frequency, Neutral and Transparent would be a reasonable description.

A Cart' recently demonstrated in a OL Illustrious Arm, is the Sumiko Pearwood with the Ultrafine Boron Armature and Ogura Styli.

To myself, these two materials being selected are the obvious choices to counteract the Rich Tones that can manifest from a usage of a Wood Body.

There is the choice of Magnet, that has an impact, as well the additional Aluminium used to create the Body.

This Cart' is seemingly quite capable of delivering the Rich Tone that the Japanese Designs are renowned for. 

It will be a long search to find the Richness of Tone Trait with this Cart',                    Deep Precise Bass, with a Truthful Tone to all frequencies, is the attraction that will be locked onto before any analysis is used to discover where the Rich Tone is manifesting.

It really does present in a manner that is worthy of a mention, my evaluation is that Sumiko have got much of their description on the money, it would have been more accurate if they come away from the use of 'Rich', as this is the known Japanese Trait, which this model in 'Mk II' version has detached from.