Blue Point No. 2 on a RB250

From what I've read, Roy Gandy, CEO of Rega and prime mover behind the Rega RB tonearm series, is not fond of Sumiko high output moving coil carts. Gandy is a bit eccentric in some of his views and would have a strong opinion about his own cartridges designed for his tonearms (e.g., Elys, Exact).

The Rega 3-pt. mount MM carts screw right onto the RB tonearms and need no fidgety alignment process. I've heard the Exact on a P5 (or P7, forget which) and it was quite synergistic.

Another cart that reminds me of the Exact but can be had for less and of course requires standard mounting and alignment is the Audio Technica AT150MLX. You can currently get it for $325 from LPGear.

The Stanton 681EEE MkIII is discontinued, but is evidently still available at LPGear.com. LPGear also has the NOS Stanton replacement stylus plus a range of house-branded replacement styli including one with Shibata tip. KABUSA.com also offers a Jico replacement stylus for a mere $39.95.

There are a several excellent high output cartridges in the $300 range that should work well on the RB250, including the aforementioned AT150MLX, Stanton 681EEE, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Grado Reference Platinum, or Goldring 1012GX or 1022GX (if you get them from kabusa.com). I have a somewhat highly regarded HOMC (Denon DL-160), and I'll take the AT150MLX over it any day.