Budget MC Suggestions?


I've been back into vinyl for over a year now, enjoying it all immensely. I have a Thorens TD-320 with Shure V15VxMR playing through a Gram Amp 2 SE phono stage and I do love the sound. But I've been reading so much about the superior sonic quality of low output MC that I've gotten very curious. To the best of my knowledge, in 35 years of listening to records I've never heard an MC cart. So, I'm wondering two things. First, is it possible on a shoestring budget (say $300 for cartridge and phono stage or transformer, used is fine) to find an MC set-up that will sound better than my present MM set-up? If so, what preamp and cart do you recommend? If it's not possible on that budget, how much does one have to invest in MC to outperform the V15-Gram Amp 2SE set-up? Second, what exactly are the sonic improvements I should expect to hear? Thanks, Rich
winegasman
denon dl160 is a very nice cartridge and high output, too..less than 200 landed from audio cubes...not as good as the 103 (and its variants) but it also does not require a transformer
conicals make contact with more of the record groove while elliticals and others touch less of the groove giving them more detail. so an extra gram isn't going to cause more wear since the weight is spread out and not as concentrated as an ellitical.