cartridge recommendation

@Stone1- I'll let someone else tackle your question, though some years ago (late '80s?), I had a Well Tempered -the original one, which had been heavily tweaked and used a range of cartridges, mostly MC. One key to that arm was getting the 'right' amount of fluid in the cup b/c the damping could change the sound. I can't remember all the cartridges I used with it, but did have a Van De Hul (a higher output MC) and one of those Lyra Parnassus with the unobtanium magnets. Given the price of state of the art MC cartridges today, the notion of a vintage cartridge (even if rebuilt) may make sense, see below.
@chakster (and others)- I remember many of the cartridges you list from new, back in the day. That AT20 I had new, if I recall, it was an early Shibata- and considered a very good cartridge at the time.  This was circa 1973? or so and it was installed in an AT arm that had a pneumatic lift with a hose and cuing lever that mounted flush to the turntable plinth. (It was on a Technics SP 10 back then).
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I'm just now going back and exploring some of these older cartridges- I've been using the fancy current ones, and the prices are getting daunting for top tier. I got a Monster Genesis 1000 to use as a stopgap and it is a little lean sounding, not bright, just not as full sounding in the lower midrange or as tonally rich as the Airtights I have been using for the last decade or so. But it is still breaking in and at the price, it is a phenomenal performer.
I had many Grados back in the day- they were always considered very good sounding for the money- I do remember some people had issues with hum, which may be due to the design and electrical noise thrown off from the motor? being picked up by the cartridge. 
Peter L from Soundsmith is a gift. 

@Stone1- I wasn't making any specific recommendation. My points were that I:
-owned some of the cartridges that Chakster mentioned when they were new, many years ago, and am now exploring some of them again as vintage, given the crazy high prices of new top tier cartridges;
- also agreed that just starting to use an old rebuilt Monster cartridge last week, I had a similar reaction to yours- the cartridge is very lean sounding, particularly given what I am used to;
and, lastly,
-that I also had at one time a Well-Tempered.
Beyond that, and the pricing issues, it is hard to evaluate cartridges without hearing them in your system. Also, they all have a character in my experience, so there's some degree of matching the sound to complement your system's strengths and weaknesses, as well as to suit your personal preference: 
Some people like very clinical 'accurate' sound, I prefer something that has more tone and richness, but not to the degree that it is over-ripe or imposing that sound on everything- that is why I've been using the Airtights for the last decade or so, after several Lyras- which are also very good cartridges, but tend to have more leading edge and less fullness in sound. 
I do think the Grados are a good value and sound good, but it i haven't used one since the mid-'80s or so, so cannot tell you about their current products or their sound.