Some help please with Cartridge choices

Another who has, is whom has experienced optimised Cartridge matching between Cart' Output and Phonostage. 

My one experience where I knew all the necessaries were accurately addressed, enabled a Cart' that was very familiar to myself, find a new level of positive impression it could conjure. 

When parting with monies  for a Cart' that can extend to $7K+.

The electronic support for the  Cart', surely needs serious consideration as well. 

This doesn't mean buying into uber expensive electronics, but putting in place the devices that allow the Cart'to be optimised with a downstream circuit. 

AT125LC Cartridge Body $59. free shipping, in usa thus no tarriff

$229. gets new MicroLine on Boron

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/cartridges/styli-accessories/a-t-moving-magnet-styli/at-vmn45xml

There you have current production Microline on Boron, tracking at ?  for around $300. Original stylus tracked at nominal 1.4g, new boron, ____?

I’d like to hear it.

OP,

sorry to take your thread into the bargain basement, but once these things pop up, I feel someone who needs it ought to know.

@yoyoyaya The Nottingham arm is designed with the table in mind.  The wires are uninterrupted from headshell (not interchangeable) to their built in cable.  Larry from Hollywood sound discouraged me from changing arms, saying in his experience it's not worth it- so perhaps a down side to the table.  My phono pre is built into the VAC Master preamp and is pretty solid. The turntable is the only product not purchased from Mike, and he seems to think it blends well with the rest of the system, so I'm disinclined to make turntable changes at this time. It's hard to A/B turntables in your own system.  I wonder how others go about that process.

@OP I just wrote a lengthy reply which the system then did a 404 error and lost. So I'll just cut to the chase on preamp / cartridge compatibility. Your VAC preamp's 68dB of MC gain is marginal for a 0.3mv output cartridge viz. the Black. It could sound a bit flat dynamically and / or noisy. So you would need to audition to know. Re the Turntable, if it were me, I would look at improving it before looking at a better cartridge than the Crimson. If you send your Crimson back to VdH, it will come back "as new", not just with the tip changed.

@yoyoyaya Jeez, I hate it when that happens!  Thanks for the effort, though.  I don't disagree with the turntable advice.  It's a complicated CFO (wife) issue.  Every system upgrade requires a complex well thought out battle plan.  She understands the concept of wear on a stylus and the need for refurbishment. I got the green light! To her, the turntable is perfectly fine the way it is. Over the years I have left a few comments about it being the"weak link" in system, etc. Before every upgrade I progressively plead my case that the upgrade will improve the listening experience.  Every time I am met with "It already sounds great, I can't imagine it being any better".  I am nearing 1500 hours on the Van den Hul and I suspect it will be 3-5 months before I get it back, so the Cart is the current easy sell.  The turntable will be the next frontier.  Probably too much info, but I think you can see my logic.  Also, I queried the internet with AI-wow, what a trove of info.  You were right on with the thoughts on gain and the winner on that front is the MSL for sure. With tonearm matching, both were good, the nod going to the Black, but not by much.  For total system synergy with the VAC Master and Sig 200's, it seems that the MSL is in the #1 spot.  For now.  Stay tuned for future developments.