Turntable is irrelevant, but the tonearm mass is important, your arm is basically a Rega, 12g mass.
Read this article first. Then make sure you know your cartridge dynamic compliance at 10Hz (not at 100Hz like all Japanese carts, you have to convert 100hz compliance to 10Hz using x 1.7 formula).
Popularity of cartridges means nothing, it depends on the country and local distribution and their PR.
Do not use a low compliance cartridges on your tonearm!
Do not expect a $700-1500 MC are any better than MI or MM at this price. Most likely you can buy much better MM or MI if your budget is $700-1500 ! And I hope you understand that buying a used MC you will have to retip or rebuild it, manufacturer will not get it from you, so you will have to rebuild it (every 600-2000 hrs , depend on stylus profile) using different parts from a third party retipper, it will take time ( about 5 months if retipper is well inown and busy person like SoundSmith) and it will cost you extra money.
In case with MM or MI you van just buy new stylus replacement and install it yourself, it will be genuine stylus and your cart will always sound as expected by the manufacturer. Some MM available with top quality cantilevers (Boron, Sapphire, Ruby ...) and advanced profiles (MicroRidge, LineContact, MicroLine ... ).
Even fully compatible cartridges and tonearms may not give you a perfect sound you are looking for, and no one can tell you what you are looking for in terms of sound.
Read this article first. Then make sure you know your cartridge dynamic compliance at 10Hz (not at 100Hz like all Japanese carts, you have to convert 100hz compliance to 10Hz using x 1.7 formula).
Popularity of cartridges means nothing, it depends on the country and local distribution and their PR.
Do not use a low compliance cartridges on your tonearm!
Do not expect a $700-1500 MC are any better than MI or MM at this price. Most likely you can buy much better MM or MI if your budget is $700-1500 ! And I hope you understand that buying a used MC you will have to retip or rebuild it, manufacturer will not get it from you, so you will have to rebuild it (every 600-2000 hrs , depend on stylus profile) using different parts from a third party retipper, it will take time ( about 5 months if retipper is well inown and busy person like SoundSmith) and it will cost you extra money.
In case with MM or MI you van just buy new stylus replacement and install it yourself, it will be genuine stylus and your cart will always sound as expected by the manufacturer. Some MM available with top quality cantilevers (Boron, Sapphire, Ruby ...) and advanced profiles (MicroRidge, LineContact, MicroLine ... ).
Even fully compatible cartridges and tonearms may not give you a perfect sound you are looking for, and no one can tell you what you are looking for in terms of sound.