I want to upgrade my Turntable to something heavier

I highly recommend this moderately priced ($329) MM cartridge, it has a Boron rod cantilever, replaceable MicroLine stylus, 3.7 mv output signal strength.

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/cartridges/type/moving-magnet/at-vm745xml

Their LOMC with boron rod cantilever and MicroLine stylus costs $649.

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/cartridges/type/moving-coil/at-oc9xml

I have not heard it, however I have heard and liked many AT, including the prior AT33PTG/II version of this one which is getting up there in price these days ($899)

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/cartridges/type/moving-coil/at33xmlb

One advantage of buying AT MC is their exchange program

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/cartridges/styli-accessories/a-t-moving-coil-exchange-program

I sent mine in, they sold me a new one for just under half-price, if you think long, that actually lowers the cost of the 1st and 2nd one by 25% each, i.e. $675. each

Soundsmith has a re-build service

https://sound-smith.com/services/phono-cartridge-repair-restoration-tip-repair

Many here, including me, have Steve and Ray Leung re-build our MC cartridges

https://vasnyinc.com/

OTHERS____?

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Who will Mount; Align; Calibrate the Cartridge?

One advantage of MM is you can buy a TT with a Pre-Mounted Cartridge, and simply replace the stylus, preserving alignment of the cartridge body.

That limits your cartridge choices to what is offered, one whereby the stylus can be upgraded, 

I recommend the step up from Elliptical to an advanced stylus shape: any variation of Line Contact:

Line Contact / Linear Contact / Special Line Contact / Fine Line
Shibata
MicroRidge / MicroLine
Jico SAS

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and I favor Boron Rod cantilevers over aluminum if boron fits the budget. If not, I prefer the advanced stylus on aluminum, rather than dropping down to elliptical.

Elliptical can sound great, as can aluminum, however there are good reasons to move up.

https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/audiophile-insights/analog-insights/phono-cartridge-stylus-shapes/

https://sound-smith.com/articles/how-choose-cartridge

 

 

 

 

Solidsteel wall mount

Solidsteel S3 rack

Rega wall mount

Have your phono stage no more than 1.5m from the table and use balanced cables from phono stage to preamp, not exceeding 2m in length…the shorter the better as that’s still a low signal. 

mahler, the short answer to your long question about balanced mode and hum is "yes". 

RB, I have never owned a Rega anything, but I do believe that the diligent end user could wire a cartridge in balanced mode even using a Rega TT and tonearm, once you know where the connection is between the tonearm or table ground and cartridge ground. Then sever it. You could ground the tonearm or TT separately, if necessary, once that is done. I did not mention it because I did not want to confuse the OP, but there ARE cartridges that cannot be wired in balanced mode, because they use a single common ground for both channels.  That goes for at least older Decca and Grado cartridges, maybe others.

Using "balanced cables" in the absence of balanced electronics does nothing except exhibit any differences between the cables themselves and whatever else you have been using in terms of SQ. But there are none of the noise benefits associated with balanced operation. Like I said before, you can have perfectly OK performance from a single-ended system with no annoying noise issues, too. And single-ended electronics tend to cost less than true balanced electronics, because of lower parts count, or at least they can be manufactured for lower cost.

@lewm 

The OP has a PS Audio integrated amplifier which accepts one balanced input, but at a price point that suggests the amplifier is not fully balanced internally.  From my brief reading of the specifications, the first version handles Moving Magnet cartridges while the Mk 2 version also accepts Moving Coil.

All other things being equal, I would use balanced cables from the deck because there is nothing to lose, and more immunity from EMI directly affecting the cable.  I note that balanced cables can be terminated in RCA connectors as well as XLR, provided the RCA connections are not grounded. 

If I were running a Moving Coil cartridge from my Holbo, I would use cables with RCA connectors at one end and XLR at the other. I know the Holbo RCA connectors are not grounded, because they support the powered DS Audio optical cartridge range.

I have an XLR balanced cable for my SME tonearm which will provide a straight run from the cartridge to the phone stage, when I get around to installing it.  Oddly, with my current Moving Magnet cartridges and SoulNote phono stage, the balanced cable will work but only in single-ended mode!

You can probably answer this question for me.  When balanced cables are used as interconnects, the effective signal voltage is twice as high as a single ended cable.  I suspect there is no such advantage with cartridges.  Am I right?

As you imply, at this price point most home users are very satisfied with the sound quality they get without bothering about balanced anything.

Tend to agree with the above my perferance is wall mount for the stated reasons however I live in a mining town withusually scheduled "earthquakes" and large truckes transiting. Currently the table is on a heavy dresser which seems to reduce the sprung floor trampoline effect from children - still requires care and descretion ...

Re balanced - personally think your going down a "rabbit hole" noted you have an excellent amp. Suggest spend time investing in a high quality phono stage for example I use a Dynavector in Dr T mode which is excellent. Also re the table suggest if you need to change look for one open to step by stepupgrading allowibg tweaking and fiddling. Regas and Linns are good for this. Also if you have tge urge have you thought about buying a kit or build your own? This can be entriguing and interesting and through it you learn a lot hands on about audio gear?