Catridge for sme 30/2

Thank you  for your responses. The dealer has convinced me on the Dynavector 17dx. He is also coming over to my house to do the installation. That should cover up for my “lack of knowledge “ . 

Cartridge set up on the SME 30/2 is very easy if you follow the instructions in the manual and use the supplied protractor. Probably one of the easiest systems around. You simply bolt the cartridge into the holes, level the cartridge and then adjust the pivot to stylus by moving the back of the arm in the slide to bring it into line with the protractor - cant get any easier than this.

Dynavector 17DX should be a good match. As a former SME importer I experienced good matches with both Dynavector and Van Den Hul cartridges - their medium compliance matches well with the SME's low/medium effective mass. Also had good results with Soundsmith at the upper end of your budget.   

Not sure why do you need such expensive cartridge if you think your tech knowledge "in setting up table is bad" ?

You can find excellent cartridges under $1500 and all you need to know is tonearm effective mass and cartridge dynamic compliance (at 10Hz) to theoretically match them together reading this article.

Maybe a cartridge with user replaceable stylus (MM or MI) is better for you ? 

This looks like ''back to front'' causality. From effect to the cause.
In some sense one can ask the right cart for the given tonearm but
the right cart for an TT is curious. As far as I know only our Lew
can have this this problem because of the number TT's he owns.
It seems obvious for him to ask the question ''which cart should
I use for this (x) one?'' 

Thinking of Dynavector 17dx catridge , my local dealer says that’s a good match

Thank you everyone for your wonderful suggestions.
still working on the deal .

Sumiko cart designed for this table. I use the palo santos pres. and it is excellent

Assuming you will be running an Sme IV or V arm, if you have the arm templates setup is easy and will get you 95% of the optimal performance from the cartridge assuming everything on the cart is true.
Lyra kleos is a perfect match fur those arms.

Don’t worry, an SME 30 is almost plug and play. The table looks complicated, but really isn’t. If your 30 has a V arm just setup as described and it’s actually pretty easy. There aren’t the cart issues that other arms have as the head is not slotted, nor does it have rotational adjustment. There is a little bit of side to side, but it is very slight. Setting up the rest is pretty straight forward. Get a good force scale gauge as well. Have fun with it, it’s a great setup.

Boy, that is a big jump! You're gonna love this. It has a V arm on it right?
That is a light arm which is OK, you can always add weight. I love ortofon cartridges particularly the Windfeld Ti. But, in this case I would prefer the Clearaudio Concerto. It is more compliant and very detailed. It tracks almost as well as the Windfeld but is a shade more dynamic. I think it is a better match for that arm.

Mike

The Ortofon Windfeld Ti was used on the SME 12A in a room at the Florida Audio Expo and sounded excellent. 

I recommend Ortofon cartridges, and we have an SME 20/3 with Ortofon Cadenza Black as our reference turntable setup. Ortofon cartridges have a little peak on the top that also helps to adjust azimuth, if the tonearm does not support rotation along its horizontal axis (roll). We use Dr. Feickert's Adjust+ to measure and calibrate cartridge phase / azimuth, and Dr. Feickert's protractor for alignment and overhang.