Denon budget cartridge compared to $700 cartridge

Based on your system and your cartridge budget, I would recommend the Dynavector 17-D Karat or the Shelter 501 over the Blackbird. If you do that, you should also consider getting a new phono preamp. I am former owner of the Black Cube SE, and have real respect for it, but I don't think it is ideally suited for use with lower output MC cartridges.

try the dynavector karat...i run that on my scoutmaster with jmw 9 signature arm and a lehmann cube se. in my opinion its a very good cartridge and one that mates well with the arm. output is a little low for the cube, but its a real nice combo.

Witha set up like that you should go towards the Lyra Helikon or Shelter 901 cartridges............

Hi. I'm presently using a VPI Scoutmaster with SDS, steel periphery ring with clamp, the Lehmann Black Cube Se as the phono preamp, Apogee stage speakers and a Krell integrated amp. Thanks for your response.

At a minimum, you should hear better resolution and transients with the Blackbird, but a lot of that will depend on the rest of your analog "front end": turntable, tonearm, phono preamp, and preamp. So, to help other readers give you helpful advice, it would be good to know about the other analog components in your system.