Best all-around cartridge for 500.00 new

No sweat Sean, I would love to try the Dynavector 10X4 "Gold" that Music Direct sells. Under $500, Boron cantiliever, micro ridge stylus and available in a 2.5mv output version. It was a limited edition and may no longer be available. I usually love the boron,MR,MC's with a bit of output and Dynavector makes great cartridges.I am very interested in the Clearaudio MM's as well, like the Virtuoso Wood. I can't find reliable info on what sort of tip profile Clearaudio uses on these though. I have seen different info evry where I look, some say elliptical, some claim VanDenHul, some say fine line(another term for MR if I am not mistaken) what the hell is it?

Try contacting Clearaudio directly or call Bes at Music Direct. I had a brief conversation with him about these cartridges as i too was somewhat interested in them. From what he described them as sounding like ( nothing like the stereophile review and recommendation ), i decided to leave well enough alone.

Music Direct supposedly has a new "demo room" now with a small selection of the electronics that they carry set up. I'm going to have to stop by there sometime soon and see what's new and exciting. They are about a 1/2 hour drive from me, which is pretty convenient to say the least. Sean
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I have a used (200 hours) Grado The Reference ($1200 new - $500 used), and it sounds fabulous with my Rega P25/R600. I have not had ANY problems with hum, and it seems to be a good fit without needing VTA tweaks.

Allison2, I know it may be pushing your budget, but for $650 you can get a Shelter 501 MkII, which is a substantially better cartridge than any of the ones listed above, and indeed competes with cartridges costing $2-3k. If that is a little too far out of your budget, the Denon DL-103 or DL-103 Pro is a good second choice.