Budget? Cartridge recommendations

Dear @thermals1 : This one is very good cartridge:

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9g9bb-shelter-9000-phono-cartridge-cartridges

look the review: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/shelter-901-mkii-9000-harmony-mc-moving-coil-phono-cartridges-tas-205/

https://www.needledoctor.com/Shelter-9000-Phono-Cartridge

and this Ortofon is very good performer and you can make an offer for lower price:

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9gjc3-ortofon-cadenza-black-mc-cartridge-never-used-cartridges

an owner review with good system and Other top Ortofon cartridges especially the A90:

https://www.audioasylum.com/reviews/Phono-Cartridge/Ortofon/Cadenza-Black/vinyl/106/1064332.html


You can’t go wrong with either cartridge and your Rowland can handled with no trouble as your MMT tonearm ( btw, made it by Jelco. Good. ).

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

"""  but not trying to reach state of the art ... "", well both cartridges are  inside the state of the art quality cartridge performance levels in that elusive market niche. Yes exist better carrtridges but for over 8k-10K to beat those samples

The MMT has a mass of 20 grams. Make sure the cartridge you use is a lower compliance type. You can calculate the arm and cartridge compatibility using this chart!
http://www.mh-audio.nl/Calculators/RF.html

Lighter headshell and lighter cartridge will change an effective mass. 
Before any calculation you need to know a cartridge compliance at 10Hz, but most japanese cartridges does not provide a compliance at 10Hz, instead they do 100Hz. 

How much gain will the Rowland give you?

The MMT has a mass of 20 grams. Make sure the cartridge you use is a lower compliance type. You can calculate the arm and cartridge compatibility using this chart!
http://www.mh-audio.nl/Calculators/RF.html

If your SUMIKO tonearm is moderate mass then you can't go wrong with JVC Victor cartridges. Your suggested budget is more than enough for any of these. Two of them are direct coupled LOMC (AT ART1000 inspired by this technology, watch it), but one of them is absolutely terrific MM, talking about Victor X-1II (Beryllium cantilever, Shibata stylus tip). Even lower model X-1IIe (Titanium Pipe cantilever, Elliptical tip) is absolutely amazing for half price. 

Victor are state of the art cartridges in my opinion.  

I really like my Hana SL. It's a great value at its price point.

My Kiseki Blue NS is significantly better and can be found on Audiogon under your budget. 

The Hana line gets amazing reviews.