Cartridge upgrades for Technics SL-1200MK2?

I've heard good things about the Audio Technica AT150MLX for a MM cartridge. It's a noticible step up from the AT440 mentioned above, but also at 3x the money at about $260.00. Anyone else that can confirm that with this TT?
Good Listening!

I'm using an Audio Technica OC-9 MKII on my 1200 MKII table and it sounds terrific! What a joke, I bought the table for $80.00, adjusted the loose play in the tonearm and it sounds better than more expensive tables that I have owned. I have also used a Denon DL-110 which sounded very good but not as nice as the OC-9. I am using a Graham Slee Era Gold MK V phono stage with cinemag transformers for the low output OC-9. I am actually content with this setup and don't feel the need to upgrade. I think this table deserves a good phono stage along with a good cartridge to hear what it can really do.

Thanks so much gentlemen. Where can I pick up the Sumiko headshell?

Thanks!

John

07-23-07: Myraj
I've heard good things about the Audio Technica AT150MLX for a MM cartridge. It's a noticible step up from the AT440 mentioned above, but also at 3x the money at about $260.00. Anyone else that can confirm that with this TT?

I bought the May/June issue of The $ensible $ound because the cover story was about using a KAB-modified SL-1200 mk2 to archive LPs to CD-R. He tried 4 carts on the TT--the AT 150MLX, AT440MLa, KAB-modified Ortofon Concorde Pro-40, and a moving iron Stanton with higher-performance new old stock (NOS) replacement stylus. He also compared with the now-discontinued Shure M15VMR.

The review included some patent drawings for various stylii including the MicroLine represented by the ML designation in the AT cartridges. The MR in the Shure cartridge stands for MicroRidge, and the reviewer was confident that these stylii were either the same shape or v-e-r-y similar. He found the AT150MLX to be very fast, very linear and neutral--more so than its AT440MLa sibling. He said there's a bit of a midrange bump in the AT440MLa that makes it brighter and more forward. He figures the solid aluminum body of the AT150MLX gives it an advantage in neutrality and resonance control (with attendant improvements in linearity and resolution). He could be right. After all, that's what Zu Audio did in part to modify the Denon AT-103 cartridge--put it in a solid aluminum body.

Reviewer noted that the Stanton sounded the warmest and most romantic, the AT150 the most neutral with a tonal balance like the master tape or a CD, and that the Ortofon split the difference. He also said the MicroLine stylus was absolutely the best for getting good sound off old, worn vinyl, and that the Fritz-Geiger stylus of the Ortofon must have been designed for new vinyl because it sounded excellent there, but was noisy on worn vinyl. He felt that it was a far more exciting cartridge sonically than the departed Shure, and that the high-dollar rush to buy the last remnants of the Shure run is nuts because the AT150MLX is a better cartridge all around with the same basic stylus shape and better separation, channel balance, and trackability.

He also noted that the stereo separation, low crosstalk, channel balance (within 1/2 dB), and tracking of the AT150MLX were top notch.

So it sounds like a great match with the Technics DDs, and the only limiting factor would be whether its tonal balance suits you.