Going from MM to MC

Absolutely not! The Ortofon and the Lyra are far better cartridges. I would lean towards the Delos here if the naked cantilever does not scare you. If it makes you nervous the Ortofon Quintet Black is also an excellent cartridge. Good choices.

For any MC cartridge, check the recommended impedance loading, see if your SUT or Phono Stage provides a good match.

Your Phono Stage's Impedance via Potentiometer is a splendid feature

i.e. the Delos:

• Recommended load directly into MC phono input: 97.6ohm ~ 806ohm (determine by listening, or follow detailed guidelines in instruction manual)
• Recommended load via step-up transformer: 5 ~ 15ohm (step-up transformer’s output must be connected to 10kohm ~ 47kohm MM-level RIAA input, preferably via short, low-capacitance cable)
• Recommended tonearms: High-quality pivoted or linear (tangential) tonearms with rigid bearing(s), adjustable anti-skating force, preferably VTA adjustment

Delos uses a boron cantilever, much better than aluminum, a spec better than Ortofon’s Sapphire, read Ortofon’s text

The Linn has good specs, except Aluminum Cantilever

Ortofon’s separation specs are NOT GOOD, you mention separation, the channel separation is listed as >23db. The other two are >30db.

..........................................

My choice, far less cost, was/is the Audio Technica AT33PTG/II. It’s separation is >30db; it’s tight channel balance (very important for imaging within the wide separation) is 0.5db

I have other cartridges, my friends bring theirs here, so far it’s loved by all.

I wore my stylus out, AT trade in sold me new cartridge for half price.

Of course they have some higher priced, different technologies, but the separation/imaging specs are the same as the AT33PTG/II.

What Mijostyn said.

Also, there is no reason to think you must have an MC cartridge in order to realize your goals.  There are any number of MM and especially MI cartridges (e.g., Grado, Nagaoka, SoundSmith) in the same price range as the MCs you are considering (or cheaper) that would be an improvement over what you are now listening to.

Elliot, I hope and trust you have come through your medical ordeal and are now in good shape.  Glad to know it.

Dear @mal11963  : In the time when the Linn Kandid was its top of the line as Lyra Scan-Tech made it under the Linn specs. I owned Linn cartridges in the past ( Scan-Tech too. ) and its top of the line were really fine. Normally only Linn  owners ask for Linn cartrides, Linn is really a low profile company.

Looking your  tube phono stage and the Linn Akito my advise is to go with the  Nagaoka MP 500 that's a moving permalloy ( MP ) motor design. 

You can't go wrong with the Nagaoka that I'm sure will fulfill what you are looking for.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

@rauliruegas 

Where have you been? I was starting to worry!

@mal11963 

The MP 500 is a fine cartridge for the money. High output cartridges are always a better value. My favorite so far has been the Soundsmith Voice but it is $3000. Comparing the Delos to the MP 500 is hard and it is probably closer than one would think. I usually figure that equivalent high output cartridges usually go at 1/2 the price of MCs. MCs are overpriced because the market will support it.  I usually suggest sticking with high output cartridges until you are willing to spend over $2000 for a moving coil with a blip at $3000 for The Voice.