Cartridge upgrade

I did not know that the Voice cost as much as $3000.  Since that is so, I could not recommend it as a cost-saving alternative to the Kiseki.  Albeit, taken by itself, I take Mijostyn's word for its excellence. (I never heard one.)  To the OP, if Kiseki is pulling out of the US market, that might mean their cartridges are not selling well here for any one of a number of reasons.  But keep in mind, Kiseki of today is not the same as vintage Kiseki.  I also omitted to mention Hana; they also make excellent modestly priced cartridges.  And my other main point is that I do not at all subscribe to the idea that there is any sort of linear correlation between price of a cartridge and sonic excellence.

Mijo, Yes, I am still listening to the MP500 but switching back and forth with some others.

I wonder why you are especially interested in Kiseki cartridges. Decades ago, the Kiseki brand was a significant player in high end audio and associated maybe with Sugano, who went on to Koetsu fame. I think in recent years the name has been co-opted by a different company and I’ve not seen such glowing reviews of the modern lineup, although they also resurrected some of the names, like Purple Heart, from days of yore. I would stick with more main stream brands, like AT, Ortofon, Dynavector, Soundsmith, Grado, etc, where I think you also will get more for your money. For example, the AT 9Xa and 9Xi cartridges that cost less than $1500 or even the Nagaoka MP500 for a shade under $1K. Or Soundsmith "The Voice" for similar money. Just my two cents. (If you're planning to use a SUT, do some reading before you pair a low output MI cartridge (e.g., SS or Grado) with a SUT.)

What other kind of advice is there?

id say get a better cartridge but don’t spend $3400. There are many great cartridges out there for under $1500 that will handily outperform the Clearaudio.